Breaking and Entering

Posted on Wed Dec 11th, 2019 @ 10:28am by Commodore Jacob Kane

Mission: Shakedown
Location: Aquilon - Resort
Timeline: MD-03
1269 words - 2.5 OF Standard Post Measure

The small outbuilding structure that Kane had earlier identified as housing the backup security footage as well as several other redundancies stood a few hundred yards from the main building. There was a wide outdoor pool in between, with a small cluster of hotel guests lounging around, but aside from that the area was pretty clear.

Kane led Mortigar around one side of the structure, taking his time to notice security measures and entry points. The ideal access was through a service door tucked-away on one side, which didn't seem too heavily protected.

"I can phaser out the lock," Kane explained, "But that's likely to draw some attention so once inside we'll have to move quickly." He hefted his hand phaser. "Ready?"

"I would recommend a narrow beam, Sir," the Evoran suggested. He then nodded to his Commanding Officer. "Ready," he announced.

Kane adjusted the settings on his phaser and took aim. The short blast disabled the mechanism and there was a grinding sound as the door locks disengaged. He moved closer and heaved the entryway into an opening large enough for the two of them to access.

"Let's go, we're on the clock."

Morty scurried through the entrance and found himself in a short hallway that had large pane windows lining the right wall. The Evoran could see a number of monitors through the gaps in the vertical blinds. It was likely that was the room they were looking for. He hurried down the corridor until he arrived at another door. Mortigar looked back to Kane to inform him of what he'd found. "I believe it is here," he told him.

Kane nodded, trying to stick to the shadows as much as possible. "Can you remote access, or do you need to be physically at the workstation?" he asked.

"It would be best if I was in there," Mortigar advised the Commander.

"That'll make this interesting, then," Kane noted. He stared through the vertical gaps as another figure drifted past. Tall, wearing a strange kind of uniform. "Damn," he whispered. "That's an Orion. Looks like that intel was true after all. But why would they be here?" He looked down at Mortigar. "I'll take care of him, you get to the panel and download what we need. Don't take any risks, Lieutenant - we're already down a pair of Ensigns."

Don't take any risks? Did the Commander know who he was talking to? Perhaps not; they had only become acquainted recently after all. Mortigar did worry about the Orions being around though. The ones he'd come across in the past weren't very nice people. "I'll try to work quickly," he told his superior. Whether or not he could get his task done expediently depended on the kind of security software that was installed on the servers. All Morty could do was hope that Kane could distract the Orions long enough so that he could get what they came here for.

Easing around the side, Kane shifted into a position where he was slightly behind the Orion guard as he turned. Rather than risk the sound of a phaser discharge, he knew this had to be a relatively silent takedown. With that in mind, he went straight for the back of the knee, taking the guard's leg then grabbing the neck and head and clamping down hard. As he held the struggling Orion, Kane gave a rapid nod at Mortigar.

The Evoran entered the main security room as quickly as his feet allowed but once inside, he was momentarily taken aback by the number of display screens and control boards all around. Which computer could he access to get the footage they required? Which computer was the main computer? As they didn't have very much time, Morty had to make a decision. And so, he chose the most central computer and sat down.

The computer itself was already powered on, but it was locked behind a username and password. Mortigar withdrew his tricorder from his belt and connected it to the system with a press of a few buttons. Then, he let his tricorder do the work. "I am attempting to decrypt the login credentials," he announced to the Commander.

Kane grunted a little as he wrestled with the Orion, who had initially been taken by surprise but was probably pound-for-pound stronger than him. He wished silently that Mortigar would hurry up but that would likely be counterproductive, so instead slammed in a couple of shots to the Orion guard's meaty chest, hoping that would wind him enough to keep him down.

When Morty got no response from Kane, he looked back to see that the Human was validly occupied. He needed to hurry. Either the Orion's friends would be alerted to what was going on, or he would overpower the Commander and take them both down. The Lieutenant returned his attention to the computer. As luck would have it, the tricorder had finished decrypting the information and Mortigar was able to log in.

"Just need to download the files," he then muttered to himself.

Opting not to be picky with what he got off the server, Morty simply accessed the root directory and initiated the download. When he saw how long it would take, he looked back to Kane once again. "How are you faring, Sir?" he asked the other man.

Kane's grip on the Orion was slipping. He knew that within another few seconds he would slip free and then the two of them would be in trouble. He had to do something to stop them, considering Mortigar's download wasn't especially fast. Only one other option, then, he decided grimly. Tightening his grip on the Orion guard's neck, Kane snapped his arm and body sharply, twisting the neck of his foe to an angle it wasn't designed for. There was an audible crack as bones broke and the Orion went limp.

"Seems like we're clear," he replied to Mortigar gravely. "Odds are he's going to be missed - what's the ETA on that download?"

'Clear' was an understatement. Was killing the Orion really necessary? Well, at the very least, Mortigar knew now not to mess with his Commanding Officer lest the same fate befall him. At that thought, the Lieutenant gulped lightly and then checked the download's progress on his tricorder. "Ninety seconds, Sir," he told Kane.

"As soon as it's done we're pulling back to the runabout," Kane explained. "If there are Orions prowling here - a Federation resort - then there's more going on than we know."

There could be any number of reasons why the Orions chose Aquilon to serve their needs. Mortigar didn't expect that they were here for rest and relaxation though. "Do you think that they may be using this resort as a staging ground for recruitment? Or perhaps they have something worse planned?" he wondered aloud. He really didn't want to even think about what 'worse' could mean.

"I think we can only guess right now, Lieutentant," Kane replied. "I'm hoping that the data you just extracted will show not only what happened to the two missing officers, but also a little of what the Orions' interest is here on Aquilon."

Mortigar nodded in understanding. As he did so, his tricorder emitted a series of bleeps to indicate it had finished downloading the files. The Evoran smiled and snatched the handheld device. "Download complete, Sir," he informed Kane.

"Good. Let's get moving and meet up with the others," Kane nodded.



:: OFF ::




Lt Commander Jacob Kane
Commanding Officer
USS Athena

Lieutenant Mortigar
Chief Science Officer
USS Athena