Capernum: Away Mission Approved

Posted on Sun Apr 20th, 2025 @ 11:16pm by Captain Taavis {SF/Meji Intel} {Meji} & Captain Rogue "Ro" Green {Meji Master} {Flt. Cpt.} & Lieutenant Commander Sean Loewen {Meji} & Lieutenant Griffon Resch

Mission: THE KINGDOMS COME AND GO
Location: M-69
Timeline: Current

ON:

Both Captain Green and Captain Taavis were cackling loudly as they left a holosuite inside Club Bliss. Their clothing was Starfleet, but that is not what they appeared to be wearing in the holodeck. It was Risa after all and both ladies had spent time in a lagoon doing things that frighten fish. However, as they got ready to leave Taavis started telling some morbid tale of one of her hunts to bring a rogue Vulcan operative back home. It was filled with silly situations and at every turn something went wrong. Green got more entertainment from watching Taavis and her facial expressions and eyes as she spun the yarn, fully committed to telling the story exactly as it had transpired, even if she did embellish a bit on the funny parts; which there were many.

"I wish more of my stories could be that funny," Green said, still quietly chuckling as they started walking the Promenade. "Mine usually affected me more emotionally. Mourning, depression, loss of those I love." Neither of them reduced their own morbid sense of humor. Ro was stating a fact, nothing more. She was not trying to elicit any kind of attention getting response.

Taavis looked over at her friend and lover. "Those things happen, and tend to be expected when dealing with criminals and vagabonds."

Ahead of them, two men were moving through the crowd as quickly as they could without jostling anyone too much in their hurry to get through. Loewen and Resch, spotting the duo command officers, switched their lane and came over. "Captain," Loewen said, to get her attention. "I know where Ainkara is."

Taavis and Green both went cold fish, all smiles gone, with Number One getting them all to move over by the railing and away from the moving lines of shoppers. "Start over," Ro said once they were all in a semi-huddle for a private chat. "You say you know where Ainkara is?" She got a nod of yes, but his eyes belied that that may not be entirely correct. "How? Mister Loewen, I trust you to drive my ship but I have had no inklings about Ainkara. Are you sure you saw what you saw?"

"I swear on The Force, Master." Sean said. That was enough to garner more attention to what he was saying. "I should say I have an idea as to where she is. A direction. As for site itself, not so much, yet."

Taavis was the next to speak up. "So, you want permission to take a Delta and check it out?"

"Yes!" Resch threw that in from his point of view. Some people took too long to get shit said. "Look, if he has even a smidge of where she is, I want to go, Captain. Myself, Loewen, and possibly one or two others. A quick jaunt to see if there is merit in his feelings."

"No," Green said. She saw two pairs of shoulders slump instantly at the voicing of that word and decided to keep going before they thought she was shutting them down. "Taavis, get a hold of whoever you need to. SS Harbinger should be able to get them in anywhere, and not as Starfleet. Have a look around, check out wherever you end up. Always better to have boots on the ground."

Resch gave Loewen's shoulder a fist bump. "We started talking about the missing, and it just so happens I've had some really weird dreams about Kara, lately, Captain. A red light, dark, stone interiors, slave labor...all of that shit flooding my brain. But, above all that, I saw her. Healthy, uninjured as far as I could tell. But, it's like her mind was searching for me. To show she was okay. We were pretty close as friends so if she is trying to contact me through imagery, she succeeded."

Taavis and Green shared a knowing look, which was not lost on Loewen. This was Meji business as much as it was Starfleet. And, with him being a Meji, then it stood to reason that he should be the one to go. "I already have another in mind for the away team. Doctor Holbrook. If we happen to get some folks free and they need medical aid, she's perfect for it."

Green raised an eyebrow at that one. "She's a doctor. Not saying doctors can't be combatants, but with most of them it goes against their judgement to actively commit violence against another being. Are you sure she is the right choice?"

Loewen gave a nod. "She's tougher than she looks and been through some shit of her own, Captain. I'd trust her with my life."

Taavis gave a show of there ya go. "I need no further convincing, Ro. If he trusts her that much, let them go. They'll have Resch along to beat folks up." She gave a giggle and a pseudo-stink eye to Griffon.

The two command officers were definitely on the same page mentally. Just as Green voiced a query, Taavis was pulling her modular from her thigh pocket. "Taavis, when will Harbinger be back? We left before they did, didn't we?"

Giving a beaming smile, Taavis responded. "They left days before we did, Captain. With me not riding back with them I told them to go make some money."

"We're set then," asked Loewen, eyes going back and forth between CO and XO.

Green hesitated purposefully. "Yes, Commander Loewen. I greenlight your away mission, no pun intended. Get your outfits selected, get yourselves prepared for no backup, and get going. I want reports from you as often as possible. If you find Kara, perhaps Bjorgo and Billi won't be far behind."

"That's the hope, Skipper." Resch said, then he glanced over at Sean, who was grinning at Griffon's use of 'skipper', which had been his original title by the rough and ready Security Chief. "Hopefully, it's not some locked down shithole, but a place where business can be conducted and the other shit happens behind the curtain."

Green smiled at the exuberance from both men. They were ready to go make a difference. "Be wary, Resch. It's the 'civilized' places that hide the deepest secrets, the most insidious minds. Corruption being the number one currency for getting ahead over others. What's the old saying? There is no honor among thieves."

"A heel kick to the head tends to straighten folks out, Captain." That was Griffon's response, and he meant it. "Need a new way of thinking, let's brain you with a lamp until you see the light."

Both women laughed. It was hard to tell whether he was serious, or being dramatically funny. Sense told both of them he was being funny, but also, deadly serious. Griffon Resch was a man who had no problem hurting others when needed. "Interesting analogy, Lieutenant. One I will remember for some time, now." Ro gave another chuckle.

Taavis slapped each one of the boys on the shoulder. "Alright. You've been approved. Shoo-shoo. Go find your ride and learn how to dress like normal folks."

Loewen, catching the barb, opened his arms up and looked down at himself. "What's wrong with how I dress?"

Green had crossed her arms over her chest, playing the smarmy girlfriend to Taavis. "I think we need to let the Doctor know he is way out of his element when it comes to casual wear."

"I think so, too." Taavis agreed. They both laughed again. "Just kidding, Sean. However, you guys spend so much time in uniform every day it has become like a second skin. When in civvies you seem, I don't know, stiff. Like you don't know how to move in real clothes compared to a uniform. Trust the people on Harbinger. They know every seedy port from here to the galactic center. They'll make sure you look the part of...whatever it is you intend on acting as."

"Slavers," Loewen said. "Two blokes looking to get into the business so we are plying the wares of others and looking for partners." Again, his eyes scanned over the others. "Sound good?"

"They're as good as dead," Taavis said this out loud, but teasingly loud enough to be heard by the boys. She even gave an eye roll to accentuate how she felt about their approach.

"Taavis, not everyone has spent time with the scum of the universe. Us three prefer our friends to be likeminded and not criminals." Green almost stuck her tongue out at Taavis, seeing the look of mock shock on her face that Ro, of all people, would go there. "Just an observation."

"Hey! Remember us?" Resch asked, one hand up front as it when back and forth for the thumbs up pointing at the two men. "We got this. Don't lose sleep over it. I'm going to go prep and you," He pointed a friendly finger in Sean's face. "Better be right about the Doc. If she can't get her mind around violence, that's on her. She steps off that ship she better be ready to hit people with hammers."

Taavis got a scrunched look to her face, look sidelong over at Green. She lip-synced "Hammers?" Not exactly sure why hammers came to mind for the man, but okay.

Loewen grabbed Griff's forearm to stop him from turning away. "She'll smash 'em with a building if she can lift it, trust me. As a physician she is opposed to violence, but she is not afraid to use it, Griffon. She came from Kirk's time, although that is kept on the downlow."

"Two of us have read her file," Green offered. "Since we're cleared to do so. But, like Number One said, you two. Time to get moving." The boys went to move away and Ro had them stop as she said one final piece. "Find them, Commander. Lieutenant. Bring them home if you can. Get in, get out, nothing extra."

"You got it, Captain." Loewen said, then the two men turned their backs and melded into the foot traffic.

"You think there's anything to his visions?" Taavis asked.

"Always," Green replied. "Question is; is it now, or the future he was seeing? He may roll into something that has just started to unravel, and he'll be lost trying to fit in somewhere."

Taavis reached out and clasped Ro's forearm as a friend and comrade. "He's Meji, Master Ro. He can handle it. It's high time the Meji began their tenure, don't you think?"

Green gave nods of agreement to that, halfhearted nods while she was deep in thought. There was something not right all of a sudden. Something hidden...elusive. These were the same feelings Ro had had just before the Mirror Qeritas had appeared and fought the original. ~Why does it feel like we are going to replay certain events?~ she asked herself mentally even as they got moving.

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