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Shuttlebay - You Want An Anomaly? Here You Go...

Posted March 1, 2021, 9:53 a.m. by Chief Warrant Officer Kodek Vonn (RTF Commander) (James Sinclair)

Posted by Captain Zachariah Cobb (Commanding Officer) in Shuttlebay - You Want An Anomaly? Here You Go…

Posted by Chief Warrant Officer Kodek Vonn (RTF Commander) in Shuttlebay - You Want An Anomaly? Here You Go…

Posted by Captain Zachariah Cobb (Commanding Officer) in Shuttlebay - You Want An Anomaly? Here You Go…
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻
<snip>
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻

The Trill Exec was more than happy to oblige, he handed over the PaDD and nodded once to the Breen officer. Boy was this going to be a long day. Turning to the crowd that had gathered he shouted, “Haven’t you got work to be getting on with, Security stand down there’s nothing here.” He shot them all an authoritative glance before looking over his shoulder, Cobb seemed to have this handled for now.

Once received, he retreated a step from the others, the gravity of the moment no excuse for a breach of security protocol, then once satisfied that he alone could see the screen, Zachariah activated the message. And read on…

  • Captain Zachariah Cobb

  • Cmdr Raauhl, XO

The personnel file was complete, intact, and as dry as others. What set it apart was the list of qualifications. Weapons: well, it would have been easier to say what he didn’t know how to use. Demolitions, check. Survival, check. Escape and evasion, check. Hand to hand combat, sabotage, piloting… check check check and on and on and on. Vonn was, at least according to his file, more than qualified for the job assignment.

And then there was the other file. Opened by a retinal scan and the input of his full security code, a text-based message appeared.

“Captain Cobb,

I am aware of the difficulties surrounding your most recent personnel assignment. And I am sure this goes without saying, but…

Watch your back.

Capt. Grant Marshall”

Vonn, RTF Commander

Captain Marshall. Cobb was familiar with the man by reputation - both as a highly-regarded and highly-decorated Starfleet officer. And as a complete and unmitigated bastard. In truth, he wasn’t entirely sure what to make of the other captain’s warning. But in an appropriately-perverted way it almost made him warm to the Breen. Almost.

But to the room, he offered no hint as to the contents of the message, nor of his own opinion on it. Instead, he delivered a barely-perceptible nod to the newcomer, followed by a gruffly barked “Aye.”

Surda turned to Rahuul, tilting her head as though she didn’t understand. “Very well, sir. I simply wished to meet my new colleague. Commander Vonn, I hope you’d be amenable to a meeting after this. We’ll be working together closely.” She didn’t offer her name, rank, or position, but she had few doubts he knew who she was anyway.
-Surda, CoS

The Breen didn’t move or give any physical indication they heard the Security Chief’s words, or was even aware of their presence. But Vonn’s voice spoke, artificial and emotionless. “Protocol suggests a correction. Not Commander. Chief Warrant Officer. I will meet you in your office when the Captain and Executive Officer have finished their review.” they said, although the helmet didn’t move from its fixed lock on the Captain.

Vonn, RTF Commander

Surda inclined her head slightly, accepting the correction. “My apologies, Chief Warrant Officer. I look forward too it.”

OOC: Fixing the split.
Raauhl chuckled, “Dont worry Lieutenant” he looked over his shoulder, “I feel like you both will become very acquainted soon, he doesn’t seem to be the kind of person who overlooks things or people especially work colleagues I just dont want him to feel overwhelmed” and start shooting everything he thought but smiled anyway. “I’ll arrange a meeting for you both, well I wont but someone will.” He’d probably have the Captains mate organise a few meet and greets in a controlled, weaponless environment.

Cmdr Raauhl, XO

Surda’s mouth quirked up. “People like us are hard to overwhelm. Fear not Commander, I’m sure there is some… common ground between us.” She turned to Cobb, studying him for a moment. “Captain?” A request for a direct dismissal in the guise of seeking approval, an easily recognized misdirection, but she didn’t intend to hide her reluctance anyway.
-Surda, CoS

The void was staking its claim. As this flotilla set course for the shore, Cobb’s vessel remained at sea, caught in the nauseating churn of confusion and anger and despair. Voices drifted past like starving beasts, begging for attention, for responses. For permission. To leave. Yet still he clung to the repulsive anchor of that mask, like being fished out of the ocean by the barrel of a loaded shotgun. Were he to allow his focus to shift for even a second, then Cobb knew his hold would be lost and he would plummet into the deep.
“Go,” he released Surda with a word, and all who followed in her wake.

OOC: Fixing Split
Quinn stood her full four feet and eleven inches in height her eyes not taken off the the Breen. She hesitated only a moment before she spoke up. “With permission? I can go square a proper venue for folks to meet our new R T F commander.” She was going to quietly coordinate with Sir Da and or Cecilia. They were all part of the R T F and they had taken the unofficial mantle of Cobb’s Angel too. Besides she didn’t want to accidentally upset Cobb.

Quinn Kindle, Yeoman, R T F, Cobb’s Angel

Like a siren she reached through the gloom, her voice beckoning him back to the light. Eyes closed, he could not risk a glance as he offered her a nod and a single word, the same as he had offered the Breen.
“Aye.”

Casela eyed them both and sent a very clear telepathic message. Don’t you two leave me here alone with this ticking time bomb. She stayed where she was, between Cobb and Vonn. Equal parts support of Cobb and protection of both Cobb and Vonn. She really really wished Ryder would find a reason to get Cobb out of there and send Vonn on to do whatever it was he needed to do. QUINN! Do NOT let Cobb drink before or during being around Vonn. After, always after. Ladies we are all taking shifts outside his quarters, make sure he doesn’t sneak off to kill Vonn. This was a nightmare, and even more so for Cobb. What was SF Intelligence thinking? They weren’t, that was the only conclusion she could come to.
Lt Synthi-er, CNS/RTF/KAI9 Handler/Cobb’s Angel/Oh and Section 31

The door to the RTF Office slid open and a new figure stepped in. The shape of Akirel Ros stood and looked at the form of Vonn, his face expressionless and unreadable as he ignored everyone in the room and said not a word, Ros’ polished Sun and Moon earring rocking slightly as the only movement on his body as his eyes rested on his target.

Now this…this was wholly unexpected and for a moment served sufficiently to wrestle Cobb’s attention away from the Breen. To break the spell and allow the old man to watch on with curious intent…

Raising his chin slightly, the Bajoran stepped forward, his eyes flaring for a second with an intensity that few on the ship would recognize and walked straight toward the heavily armoured and imposing figure of the Breen, his hand hovering about the open front of his jacket as if ready to take hold of something concealed within.

Coming to a stop in front of the almost seven foot tall being, Ros looked up at him judgingly, then raised that hand and placed it squarely on the Breens shoulder without a word or invitation.

“You owe me a beer,” Ros said, his tone flat but it didn’t hold an unfamiliar tone towards Vonn.

Lt Cmdr Akirel Ros

For the first time, the Breen seemed to focus on something other than Cobb. The helmet looked down and the Breen’s arm raised and landed delicately on the Bajoran’s shoulder. “A debt acknowledged is a debt earned.” came the generated voice.

Vonn, RTF Commander

Ros nodded once, then his eyes stayed fixed on the faceless helmet of the Breen for a second longer before his hand dropped and he stepped back. Glancing once at the other occupants in the room, Ros turned and made his way out of the office. He didn’t look back.

Lt Cmdr Akirel Ros, Consultant Researcher, Starfleet Intelligence and former S31

The helmet moved back, focused on the Captain. As if nothing had happened at all.

Vonn, RTF Commander

A breath. And with it the sea churned and spat all of their vessels away from his own.
“You heard the Commander,” he barked, eyes locked with unbroken precision on target. “Out. All of you. Except for you,” he nodded to Raauhl. “And you,” and now to the Breen. “Let us talk.”

  • Captain Zachariah Cobb

Vonn waited until the room was empty save for the three of them. The Breen still hadn’t budged an inch, and as the door slid closed Vonn slowly and methodically removed the long rifle from his shoulder and slowly drew the disruptor from its holster and slowly… very slowly… laid it to rest on on of the black bags on the floor.

“Captain. Permission to sit.” came the robotic voice.

Vonn, RTF Commander

“Denied,” Cobb barked, the clearing of the room having an almost rousing effect on the Leviathan’s captain. As if the shame of speaking his true thoughts had finally been released. He also remained standing, his own posture dignified and controlled, as of one defiant before the final hangman’s drop.

“So, I presume now you are going to tell us how you are not like other Breen? How your alliance with the Federation has deemed you worthy to serve amongst their ranks? How the skills that you possess are so exceptional, so indispensable, as to wholly justify your assignment onboard my ship?”

He laughed, the sound hollow and coarse against the silence of the room. Like the final rattle of the dying.
“I shall save you the breath, Mr Vonn. I don’t give a single damn what deals you’ve made with the Federation. Or what your bulbous ego might claim you can do for my crew. I only want to know one thing.”

Cobb took a deliberate step closer, until only inches remained between them.

“Why? Why should I trust you? Instead of blasting you out of the nearest bloody airlock?”

  • Captain Zachariah Cobb

There was a long pause, the Breen not moving… not reacting… just… standing. Finally the long silence was broken but the sound of Vonn’s voice.

“I am not like many Breen. I am very much like others. The Federation know little to nothing about us… you, despite your studies… know little more. But your issue, Captain Cobb, is not with me. I didn’t destroy your ship. I didn’t kill your crew. The Breen Confederacy did that… and I am not, nor have I ever been, a member of that organization.” There was another long pause.

“I know enough!” Cobb protested into the silence, until it swallowed him again, the Breen’s words like a raging current against his previously ordered thoughts. “But you are right,” he added a few moments later, much of the confidence, and volume, suddenly dissipated from his tone, “you are not the one who destroyed my ship. You are not the one who killed my crew. I would have ended you already if you were.”

“As for whether or not you can trust me… no. I would say that you cannot. But again, that has nothing to do with me. You don’t know me. As that is the case, then the lack of trust has nothing to do with me, everything to do with… you.”

Vonn, RTF Commander

Another laugh, although this one swelled with rage and frustration. Not entirely due to the creature standing before him but for the whole miserable, contemptible swamp that was the ARU.
“Aye,” the captain replied, for the first time turning his back to the Breen and settling himself into a seat, before offering, with a nod of the head, permission for Vonn also now to sit. “I can not trust you. Nor, I imagine, will you come to trust me. You may not be the nemesis I have spent my entire life preparing to cross swords with. But prejudice is an alluring trap. It consoles us with promises of safety and protection. It distracts us from discharging old traumas and instead convinces us to fashion them into walls. Until we get to a point where those walls are so bloody high we can no longer see aught on the other side.”

Vonn moved, slowly, to sit and the synth-voice said “High walls prevent vision and inhibit knowledge of what is outside of those walls.”

The old man released a heavy breath, one hand raking through his long, silver hair. “There may yet come a time when I find the strength to tear down those walls. But today is not that day.”

Once more he fixed those cerulean blue eyes on the Breen.
“But then trust, I have come recently to learn, is a commodity in scant supply around here. The very organisation we both now work for seems crafted from a web of lies, deceit and mistrust. So if trust is slow to develop between us then, I say that would place you on par with pretty much everyone else on this bloody ship.”

A glance to Rauuhl and he was quick to add, “My First Officer excepted, of course.”

“So if there is to be no trust,” Cobb attempted to bring his monologue to a conclusion, “then on what basis should our relationship be built? On co-operation, Mr Vonn. On each of us doing our part to achieve the larger goals of the ARU and the more immediate aims of the Leviathan herself. In truth, these things that we face, that we capture and contain and share our ship with every day, every single one of them brings peril and terror the likes of which the Dominion could only ever have dreamed! So as long as we share the same mission of locking these things down while protecting the maximum possible number of crew, then I think we will get along just fine.”

“To be honest, Captain, the larger goals of the ARU mean nothing to me. My job here is simple. Track, contain, and keep contained those entities and individuals deemed problematic due to their nature or abilities. That is all. Politics and bureaucracy are not my concern.”

Reaching into his pocket, Cobb withdrew an antique, pewter flask and uncorked it. For a moment he considered offering it to the newcomer, but the seemingly impenetrable helmet forced him to retract. Instead, he brought the flask up to his lips and drew deeply.

“Which brings me to my next question, Mr Vonn,” he asked, re-corking and pocketing the bottle as he spoke. “If you are not yourself an anomaly then, what is your prior experience with them? I am presuming there is some reason, aside from tormenting your new commanding officer, for the ARU to assign you here?”

  • Captain Zachariah Cobb

Body still and motionless, the artificial voice replied “I was not assigned by the ARU. I have been sent by Captain Grant Marshall. Whether or not my arrival here was deemed necessary by the ARU or him alone I do not know. As to my qualifications, I was most recently assigned as the Head Guard on an Intelligence Prison vessel. We held several individuals that would have undoubtedly found their way here.” It was odd that anyone would come right out and admit that Intel had prison ships, even though it was known by some and speculated by many. It was even more odd that anyone would admit to having been complicit in working on one. “Prior to that my profession was that of my clan-mates before me; I hunted sentient beings. ‘Bounty Hunter’, I believe is the human term. In that line of work, I garnered experience in retrieving many forms of life. I have also been thoroughly briefed on the nature of your current specimens and detainees. I was also briefed on your issues with the Breen, although I believe my being assigned here is not entirely related to your own personal issue.” and there was a pause.

“I am simply here to perform a role. Whatever else may come of my presence here has nothing to do with you and I, Captain Cobb. I would suggest you discuss the matter with your superiors… particularly Captain Marshall… and leave me to do my job without unnecessary distraction.”

Vonn, RTF CO


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