Season 14, Episode 1: Treasonous Assertion

[Tekin Nevir]

[Romulan Tribunal Court - Day 2]

The time had come, and T'Lara had made sure everything was taken care of for her own crew and their Romulan security guards before she took a shuttle to the station. Upon entering the dark room, she took a seat at the defense table. She had no idea if she was early or late, as she had not been informed when she was requested. There was one member of the prosecution, but no one else so far. T'Lara chose not to acknowledge the Romulan as she looked forward, waiting for the proceedings to begin. While she did so her mind ran through all the things she had learned in this short period of time. The question was how was she going to bring them to light, and what did this mean for the future of the Romulan people and the Federation?

[Alliance Station - Court Room]

Nevir was escorted into the room shortly afterwards, with no pomp and circumstance, and brought in to sit next to his first officer.  It didn't take too long for the judges to enter the chamber right after the rest of the prosecution arrived.  After the typical beginning rituals, the head judge slammed her oddly shaped gavel.

"This trial will now come to order for the second day.  We have reports of Federation officers checking the site of the Alliance Headquarters on Tryka, and earlier today a Federation shuttle was granted leave to exit the system to follow a trail taken by the accused ship.  Our teams have reported evidence being studied on the Discovery itself.  Is this information accurate, Commander?"

After T'Lara was able to respond, the head prosecutor stood up.  "Objection!  Your Honor, evidence from the Federation is inadmissible on the grounds of an inability to verify claims as truth and not fabricated."

"Sustained, arbiter.  The Discovery was free to analyse the evidence against them, however the defense would be reminded that any discoveries about the evidence is unable to be admitted in court.  Arbiter, I believe you are able to begin."

"Thank you, your Honor.  The Prosecution calls Captain Tekin Neir to the stand."

Nevir took a deep breath and stood up, allowing himself to be escorted to the front.  After taking a seat in the hot seat, the prosecution stood forward to address him.  "Very well.. Captain, in your own words, tell us what you remember of the events of the past few days."

The Captain glanced over at T'Lara, before looking back. 

"We departed from New Romulus a week ago now, en route to Tryka.  During the trip there was a gravimetric anomaly that forced us to reduce speed, I ordered the ship to reduce warp and sent a message ahead of us..."


[Meanwhile, orbiting O'Kin VII]

"Its a Federation Shuttle.  You were right, they weren't going to let Discovery leave."

"Good.. they are doing exactly what we expected of them.  Shame they allowed the shuttle to leave, though."

"Its that damned General.  I had a feeling he didn't buy it.  We'll have to eliminate him after this whole thing is over.  As long as the Praetor is unconscious on his ship, he's buying his own time."

"The shuttle will find us in twenty seconds.  No doubt they found the wreckage.  Orders?"

"Well, we don't want our brethren to have died in vain, do we?  Signal the others... charge weapons and prepare to fire."

"Sir... we still have the Discovery cloak on."

"Who cares.. they won't make it back."

The ship in question looked like the Discovery, but in the storm that cloak was spotty at best.  There was clearly a different ship under that image, one that was charging its own weapon.  They fired, but the shuttle was faster... a clear disadvantage the larger ship had.

As soon as the shuttle broke through the atmosphere back into space, two more ships decloaked; a Mogai class and a V'Melak class.  As they were decloaking, their shields were still down, and there was only a few seconds before shields would go.  The shuttle had the maneuverability to make pinpoint strikes and leave the system before the ships could follow.  It was really the only way a shuttle could survive and escape, as long as it had a damn good pilot to get the shuttle in position and still bank when needed.  At least they had the overconfidence of these Romulans on their side.

[Danjar-Torra Addams]

Ensign Danjar-Torra Addams
[Shuttlecraft Sally Ride - outside of the Tryka system]

Don looked up at the ceiling. This small space trip was falling apart. What had they taught at Starfleet academy! Don thought. It was terrible embarrassing front of the Romulan. Like he had enough on his plate.

"Cadet Gohun, Ensign Torra-Addams is correct," he shared. "Actions like sending a probe could be fatal mistake," he said. "You are all fine officers. Please no more mishaps." There was going to be reports made on this mission. He will have to talk to the Security and Operations head departments too. Torra had to be treated equal too.

"That I can do, Ensign," Don replied happily and he brought Sally Ride close as possible.

Don was quick as lightning as he was making the Sally Ride to get them out. "Shields up," he told them. "Try contact the Discovery on our discovery," he ordered.

Torra glanced over towards her husband when he backed her up in her reprimand of Gohun.
Her hurt feelings from a moment ago faded.
.
.

[Meanwhile, orbiting O'Kin VII]

"Its a Federation Shuttle.  You were right, they weren't going to let Discovery leave."

"Good.. they are doing exactly what we expected of them.  Shame they allowed the shuttle to leave, though."

"Its that damned General.  I had a feeling he didn't buy it.  We'll have to eliminate him after this whole thing is over.  As long as the Praetor is unconscious on his ship, he's buying his own time."

"The shuttle will find us in twenty seconds.  No doubt they found the wreckage.  Orders?"

"Well, we don't want our brethren to have died in vain, do we?  Signal the others... charge weapons and prepare to fire."

"Sir... we still have the Discovery cloak on."

"Who cares.. they won't make it back."

The ship in question looked like the Discovery, but in the storm that cloak was spotty at best.  There was clearly a different ship under that image, one that was charging its own weapon.  They fired, but the shuttle was faster... a clear disadvantage the larger ship had.

As soon as the shuttle broke through the atmosphere back into space, two more ships decloaked; a Mogai class and a V'Melak class.  As they were decloaking, their shields were still down, and there was only a few seconds before shields would go.  The shuttle had the maneuverability to make pinpoint strikes and leave the system before the ships could follow.  It was really the only way a shuttle could survive and escape, as long as it had a damn good pilot to get the shuttle in position and still bank when needed.  At least they had the overconfidence of these Romulans on their side.

Torra from her spot behind the copilot's seat kept watch on the sensors as ... not one.. but  TWO additional Romulan vessels began to decloak.  Tactically Torra knew that's when they were the most vulnerable.  They had a possible moment of weakness, which might allow them to increase their chance of survival.   

"Lieutenant, turn us about to do a strafing run between the two decloaking vessels."   

She turned then to look between Gohun and their Romulan guard.   "If we do nothing, we die.  If I order Gohun to attack the ships... it is an act of war, as we haven't been fired on yet. Thousands or more may die, if that is the goal of those who have planned this ruse."  She then focused her widen doe-eyes on the Romulan.  "However, if you took command of this shuttle and ordered the attack, then we would merely be complying with the orders of our Romulan host.  What would you have us do, sir?"   

[T'Lara]

[Alliance Station - Court Room]

Nevir was escorted into the room shortly afterwards, with no pomp and circumstance, and brought in to sit next to his first officer.  It didn't take too long for the judges to enter the chamber right after the rest of the prosecution arrived.  After the typical beginning rituals, the head judge slammed her oddly shaped gavel.

"This trial will now come to order for the second day.  We have reports of Federation officers checking the site of the Alliance Headquarters on Tryka, and earlier today a Federation shuttle was granted leave to exit the system to follow a trail taken by the accused ship.  Our teams have reported evidence being studied on the Discovery itself.  Is this information accurate, Commander?"

After T'Lara was able to respond, the head prosecutor stood up.  "Objection!  Your Honor, evidence from the Federation is inadmissible on the grounds of an inability to verify claims as truth and not fabricated."

"Sustained, arbiter.  The Discovery was free to analyse the evidence against them, however the defense would be reminded that any discoveries about the evidence is unable to be admitted in court.  Arbiter, I believe you are able to begin."

"Thank you, your Honor.  The Prosecution calls Captain Tekin Neir to the stand."

Nevir took a deep breath and stood up, allowing himself to be escorted to the front.  After taking a seat in the hot seat, the prosecution stood forward to address him.  "Very well.. Captain, in your own words, tell us what you remember of the events of the past few days."

The Captain glanced over at T'Lara, before looking back. 

"We departed from New Romulus a week ago now, en route to Tryka.  During the trip there was a gravimetric anomaly that forced us to reduce speed, I ordered the ship to reduce warp and sent a message ahead of us..."


[Meanwhile, orbiting O'Kin VII]

"Its a Federation Shuttle.  You were right, they weren't going to let Discovery leave."

"Good.. they are doing exactly what we expected of them.  Shame they allowed the shuttle to leave, though."

"Its that damned General.  I had a feeling he didn't buy it.  We'll have to eliminate him after this whole thing is over.  As long as the Praetor is unconscious on his ship, he's buying his own time."

"The shuttle will find us in twenty seconds.  No doubt they found the wreckage.  Orders?"

"Well, we don't want our brethren to have died in vain, do we?  Signal the others... charge weapons and prepare to fire."

"Sir... we still have the Discovery cloak on."

"Who cares.. they won't make it back."

The ship in question looked like the Discovery, but in the storm that cloak was spotty at best.  There was clearly a different ship under that image, one that was charging its own weapon.  They fired, but the shuttle was faster... a clear disadvantage the larger ship had.

As soon as the shuttle broke through the atmosphere back into space, two more ships decloaked; a Mogai class and a V'Melak class.  As they were decloaking, their shields were still down, and there was only a few seconds before shields would go.  The shuttle had the maneuverability to make pinpoint strikes and leave the system before the ships could follow.  It was really the only way a shuttle could survive and escape, as long as it had a damn good pilot to get the shuttle in position and still bank when needed.  At least they had the overconfidence of these Romulans on their side.

[Alliance Station - Court Room]

T'Lara felt Nevir's presence as he sat next to her but did not turn to acknowledge him. She remained motionless through the start of the proceedings, then responded to the judge with her affirmation. Next, she listened as the judge declared what she had been suspecting. That the Romulans would not listen to any of the revelations the Discovery crew had made. But all was not lost. As Captain Nevir stood, she finally gave him eye contact for a brief moment, then listened as he gave his account. She was concerned about the away team on the shuttle, but knew that Don would take care of them. She also knew they would find the answer they needed, which was why she had no objection to not being able to attempt to convince the Romulans about their fabrication.

[Don Damien Addams]

Ensign Danjar-Torra Addams
[Shuttlecraft Sally Ride - outside of the Tryka system]

Torra glanced over towards her husband when he backed her up in her reprimand of Gohun.
Her hurt feelings from a moment ago faded.
.
.
Torra from her spot behind the copilot's seat kept watch on the sensors as ... not one.. but  TWO additional Romulan vessels began to decloak.  Tactically Torra knew that's when they were the most vulnerable.  They had a possible moment of weakness, which might allow them to increase their chance of survival.   

"Lieutenant, turn us about to do a strafing run between the two decloaking vessels."   

The Lieutenant should just place second pip on the dashboard and just pretend to be an Ensign. "Sure thing, Ensign," Don complied. However he had a trick up his sleeve. He increased the speed of the shuttle to race close to one ship. If they to shoot at them. There was a chance he could roll that the other could be close hitting the fellow ship.

She turned then to look between Gohun and their Romulan guard.   "If we do nothing, we die.  If I order Gohun to attack the ships... it is an act of war, as we haven't been fired on yet. Thousands or more may die, if that is the goal of those who have planned this ruse."  She then focused her widen doe-eyes on the Romulan.  "However, if you took command of this shuttle and ordered the attack, then we would merely be complying with the orders of our Romulan host.  What would you have us do, sir?"

"Sensors reading any thing on them raising shields or weapons?" Don had asked.

His wife had the nerve to offer the Romulan to take over and order  an attack. Bold. It was brave. Though it was a good card to play.

"I take suggestions Uhlan tr'Ethien," he told the Romulan guest. "Make it fast please!" Don exclaimed. There was a way to fire to attempt take shots to slow them down. Go between them which they need to turn to follow. There was a few good option, but allowing the Romulan speak up would be a nice card to play.

[Zavrol Gohun]

Runabout possibly a shuttlecraft
Gohun sat there kind of dumbfounded. They did realize that he tried to hail Discovery and that the ship had to know their craft was there because jamming was an action. If they had not known the Runabout was there, then they would not be jamming. Gohun could tell that they were angry with him and scared. The kind of scared that one person gets before a fight scared and adrenaline rushing.
While Gohun was no expert in communications, he still remembered the Starfleet training on getting through a jam. The acronym AIAER for him the words were. A - AFRICAN WILD DOG I - IRISH SETTER A - AUSTRALIAN CATTLE DOG E - ELKHOUND R - RAT TERRIER. First, adjust the receiver, which involves changing the gain and the bandwidth and turning the volume. With that Adjustment, Gohun was still eating static. Phase two is with that Gohun Increase the transmitter power output. That involved drawing more power from the ship, and that also failed. The third phase was to Adjust or change the antenna as this was not possible on the runabout. Onto step four which is establish a retransmission station. This is why Gohun launched the probe. While the transmission could be blocked longwave, he could send a short transmission to the Discovery. Gohun sent a focused transmission to the probe, and hopefully, the probe is far enough away that it was able to send a short message. The message Gohun sent was imminent danger and their coordinates. With that, Gohun looked over.
Gohun,
With that, Gohun sensed a violent intent to murder and was slightly annoyed. He understood that they were annoyed with him at this moment, but wanting him dead was another thing. Oh, wait, that is the other ship. Gohun probably should tell them hat the vessel is probably going to attack.
Gohun,

[Ruth Sigurdsdottir]

[CSO's Office]

Zed entered directly behind Wentock as he realized the door was slightly ajar as they spoke outside. 'Medium huh? Good taste, I like that.' He thought to himself as he entered the room. "I'll just stand, but thank you. L-...Ms. Wentock, I'll let you take the lead on that. My specialties lie in Federation engineering, arts, and people. Don't let her sell herself short though, her finding that info so quickly wasn't just luck. As for the keyword search, we also had to contend with redactions. While I have access to look at any personnel file completely without those redactions, I happen to be the only person on this ship with that privilege. Implementing that blended with my credentials to search those blackouts in the files proved to be a slight challenge." He figured it was better if the two of them doubled down on the same story instead of contradicting one another.

"Though I'm sure if I was with Ms. Wentock for any longer we could do quite a bit more." The last sentence had a bit of a double meaning of course. He shot Luby a knowing look and then let his eyes return to Ruth as he fought back a slight mischievous smile.

[CSO's Office]

"I have no doubt you could!" Ruth replied with a grin and one raised eyebrow at Masters.  She didn't mind, she knew that Luby had had a potential romance nipped in the bud when she transferred from Columbus to the Discovery so it was nice that these two could get together.  She tried not to think too much about missing Lahr, by Loki she wanted him.  Badly.

"Well, if you give me your report Ms. Wentock... and I agree, speed and efficiency isn't something to be dismissed so easily, well done... then you can go back and search all you like, then I can put a hail out to the shuttle team, see how they are getting along." the Commander said with a grim smile.

"And Masters, at least perch your backside on the end of my desk, you look almost at attention, and I can't stand formality when there's no need for it!  You can call Luby by her first name and me for that matter, in the privacy of my office at least!"

[Luby Wentock]

[CSO's Office]

Zed entered directly behind Wentock as he realized the door was slightly ajar as they spoke outside. 'Medium huh? Good taste, I like that.' He thought to himself as he entered the room. "I'll just stand, but thank you. L-...Ms. Wentock, I'll let you take the lead on that. My specialties lie in Federation engineering, arts, and people. Don't let her sell herself short though, her finding that info so quickly wasn't just luck. As for the keyword search, we also had to contend with redactions. While I have access to look at any personnel file completely without those redactions, I happen to be the only person on this ship with that privilege. Implementing that blended with my credentials to search those blackouts in the files proved to be a slight challenge." He figured it was better if the two of them doubled down on the same story instead of contradicting one another.

"Though I'm sure if I was with Ms. Wentock for any longer we could do quite a bit more." The last sentence had a bit of a double meaning of course. He shot Luby a knowing look and then let his eyes return to Ruth as he fought back a slight mischievous smile.

[CSO's Office]

"I have no doubt you could!" Ruth replied with a grin and one raised eyebrow at Masters.  She didn't mind, she knew that Luby had had a potential romance nipped in the bud when she transferred from Columbus to the Discovery so it was nice that these two could get together.  She tried not to think too much about missing Lahr, by Loki she wanted him.  Badly.

"Well, if you give me your report Ms. Wentock... and I agree, speed and efficiency isn't something to be dismissed so easily, well done... then you can go back and search all you like, then I can put a hail out to the shuttle team, see how they are getting along." the Commander said with a grim smile.

"And Masters, at least perch your backside on the end of my desk, you look almost at attention, and I can't stand formality when there's no need for it!  You can call Luby by her first name and me for that matter, in the privacy of my office at least!"

[CSO's Office]

"Thanks, Counsellor...and Commander." Luby said both for the backing up of the story... which was a viable hurdle that she hadn't thought of as well as for letting her take the lead. Thanks given to Commander Sigurdsdottir for praising her efficiency, and for allowing the informality... something that didn't come easily to Luby, being only a cadet... she hoped to graduate this year but she knew that would depend on a report from Captain Tekin for her work on the Discovery.

"As it happens, when it comes to engineering you might prove useful here too.  I'll do this as simply as I can, but there might be some engineer-y bits that you, Commander might not get that perhaps the counsellor could elaborate on later, and Science-y parts that I know you will understand, but Ze - Mr. Masters can pick my brains about later."  '...or any other part of me he wishes to pick...' Luby thought to herself.

She wandered over and plonked herself down on the seat.

"Right first off the Drone ship's relevant info: Advanced experimental starship developed by the Romulans originally around 2150s.  It's tech specs are that as of 2150, at least 2 prototypes of the vessel were built, our drone could be another one altogether but I suspect works along same lines.  Base is a modified warbird, hence being able to cloak, propulsion systems and circuitry largely identical to warships of that era.  I wouldn't mind betting that they've updated it to a more modern version now however."  Luby paused, coughing slightly, and gestured to Zed and asked.

"Would it be possible for Mr. Masters to get me some water? I'll try to break this down but it's all relevant, and I've taken most of the blah out of the report!" she said with a grin.

"To continue...the vessels are designed to be remotely controlled via 3rd party by an Aenar pilot via telepathy, from an ops tower.  Aenars are, if I remember correctly a sub-species of Andorians but they are blind telepaths.  I know they came from Andoria.  Previously the Aenar pilot was doing this involuntarily. The Romulans oversaw this, the original pilot had been captured or kidnapped, I don't know if it was specifically for this task, but either way, he was forced."

Luby looked sad but continued.

"When a drone ship was boarded, they found that the bridge was dominated by a large subspace transceiver, to receive the orders from Romulus, it was cramped, mostly devoid of life support since the ship was remotely operated.  It also had an auto repair system for correcting damage through combat. Also much more manoeuvrable due to not needing to cater for a crew, so inertial dampeners were not needed.  They could dodge photonic torpedoes using barrel rolls.  This I think may be significant if the mimic ship was doing things that our Discovery shouldn't be doing... not so much couldn't, but you know our crew might not take it so kindly if we didn't use the inertial dampeners where possible!"

She chuckled and added,

"Leastways there'd be a lot more for me and the rest of the medical crew to do, if that were the case, but need to get through this as quickly as possible so I'll get on.  In 2154, a drone ship was used to try to destabilise potential alliances between Earth and the Andorians and Tellarites.  This was known as the Babel Crisis, I've included a full brief in the information I sent across to you.  It was equipped with an advance mulitspectral emitter system, to create wave outputs at or about the frequency of light, I'll let you do the science bits there Commander, which allowed the ship to assume the appearance of any other vessel almost.  The ship's disruptors used tri-phasic emmiters, and these could mimic the weapon signature of many ships including the Andorian particle cannons and Tellarite disruptors and... our own Starfleet phase cannons."

Luby licked her drying lips, to finally conclude her report.

"Using these abilities they threatened a war between the Andorians and Tellarites, destroyed the Kumari while disguised as a Tellarite vessel, then attacked a vessel carrying the Tellarite ambassador while disguised as an Andorian warship.  They went on to try involving Humans, and Vulcans by destroying a Rigellian ship while mimicking the Enterprise.  Thus we see that they can assume many shapes and importantly, have assumed the shape of Federation vessels, for the purpose of causing war.  Later they launched a 2nd drone ship, used with the 1st to attack the Enterprise.  They were both destroyed because Aenar siblings managed to communicate and the pilot's love for his sister was enough to get him to use the drone ships to attack one another and destroyed one, letting the Enterprise destroy the other."

The cadet finally ran down like a clockwork toy out of winde.

"If the false Discovery, was also piloted by an Aenar, then we need to use our telepaths if we have them, to try to contact them directly. Or manage to destroy the telepresence unit on that ship.  It's still out there and could still cause a threat to us or other Federation ships, since we don't know if it was the Federation, Starfleet Command or specifically the Discovery or Captain Tekin that someone has it in for!"

[Tekin Nevir]

Ensign Danjar-Torra Addams
[Shuttlecraft Sally Ride - outside of the Tryka system]

Torra glanced over towards her husband when he backed her up in her reprimand of Gohun.
Her hurt feelings from a moment ago faded.
.
.
Torra from her spot behind the copilot's seat kept watch on the sensors as ... not one.. but  TWO additional Romulan vessels began to decloak.  Tactically Torra knew that's when they were the most vulnerable.  They had a possible moment of weakness, which might allow them to increase their chance of survival.   

"Lieutenant, turn us about to do a strafing run between the two decloaking vessels."   

She turned then to look between Gohun and their Romulan guard.   "If we do nothing, we die.  If I order Gohun to attack the ships... it is an act of war, as we haven't been fired on yet. Thousands or more may die, if that is the goal of those who have planned this ruse."  She then focused her widen doe-eyes on the Romulan.  "However, if you took command of this shuttle and ordered the attack, then we would merely be complying with the orders of our Romulan host.  What would you have us do, sir?"

Runabout possibly a shuttlecraft
Gohun sat there kind of dumbfounded. They did realize that he tried to hail Discovery and that the ship had to know their craft was there because jamming was an action. If they had not known the Runabout was there, then they would not be jamming. Gohun could tell that they were angry with him and scared. The kind of scared that one person gets before a fight scared and adrenaline rushing.
While Gohun was no expert in communications, he still remembered the Starfleet training on getting through a jam. The acronym AIAER for him the words were. A - AFRICAN WILD DOG I - IRISH SETTER A - AUSTRALIAN CATTLE DOG E - ELKHOUND R - RAT TERRIER. First, adjust the receiver, which involves changing the gain and the bandwidth and turning the volume. With that Adjustment, Gohun was still eating static. Phase two is with that Gohun Increase the transmitter power output. That involved drawing more power from the ship, and that also failed. The third phase was to Adjust or change the antenna as this was not possible on the runabout. Onto step four which is establish a retransmission station. This is why Gohun launched the probe. While the transmission could be blocked longwave, he could send a short transmission to the Discovery. Gohun sent a focused transmission to the probe, and hopefully, the probe is far enough away that it was able to send a short message. The message Gohun sent was imminent danger and their coordinates. With that, Gohun looked over.
Gohun,
With that, Gohun sensed a violent intent to murder and was slightly annoyed. He understood that they were annoyed with him at this moment, but wanting him dead was another thing. Oh, wait, that is the other ship. Gohun probably should tell them hat the vessel is probably going to attack.
Gohun,

The Lieutenant should just place second pip on the dashboard and just pretend to be an Ensign. "Sure thing, Ensign," Don complied. However he had a trick up his sleeve. He increased the speed of the shuttle to race close to one ship. If they to shoot at them. There was a chance he could roll that the other could be close hitting the fellow ship.

"Sensors reading any thing on them raising shields or weapons?" Don had asked.

His wife had the nerve to offer the Romulan to take over and order  an attack. Bold. It was brave. Though it was a good card to play.

"I take suggestions Uhlan tr'Ethien," he told the Romulan guest. "Make it fast please!" Don exclaimed. There was a way to fire to attempt take shots to slow them down. Go between them which they need to turn to follow. There was a few good option, but allowing the Romulan speak up would be a nice card to play.

[Escaping orbit of O'Kin VII]

The Uhlan looked at the others in disgust.  "Do you really expect me to help you attack my brethren?" he stated... at least until a side blow from the disruptor below demonstrated that these Romulans didn't care who was on the shuttle.

"Damn... forgive me..." he said, moving up to the front of the shuttle.  "There... alter course to 193.5 mark 287.  Their shields emit from the front back, if you hit these coordinates on both ships, you can disrupt their singularity balance and disable their engines for a few minutes.  They'll have to realign the singularity matrix precisely before they can safetly go to warp... especially to cloak."

"Don't ask me about the other ship.  I have never seen it before." he said, sitting back down.  "Just get us out of here.  I can call for support once we leave this system."

[Alliance Station - Court Room]

T'Lara felt Nevir's presence as he sat next to her but did not turn to acknowledge him. She remained motionless through the start of the proceedings, then responded to the judge with her affirmation. Next, she listened as the judge declared what she had been suspecting. That the Romulans would not listen to any of the revelations the Discovery crew had made. But all was not lost. As Captain Nevir stood, she finally gave him eye contact for a brief moment, then listened as he gave his account. She was concerned about the away team on the shuttle, but knew that Don would take care of them. She also knew they would find the answer they needed, which was why she had no objection to not being able to attempt to convince the Romulans about their fabrication.

[Tryka Orbital Station - Courtroom]

"... and from there, we were told to stand down by General Tam'lok." Nevir stated, finishing his recounting of their honestly uneventful events. 

"You insist that you had no part in the ordering of the attack on the station?" the arbiter asked, clearly trying to set up the Captain for a slip-up.

"There was no ship or station where we were at the time of the attack.  There was no red alert, let alone an order."

"That may be your opinion, Captain.  But this... this says otherwise.  If not you, then explain how a Federation warship beat you into our system, and was able to attack this system.  How many of this class exists?"

"There are 6 active ships of this class in service."

"How many not in service?"

"Two."

"And where are they?"

"That is classified, but I can tell you one was destroyed, and the other dismantled.  Neither ship exists."

"And the others?"

"Again, classified, but three are within the core worlds of the Federation, two primarily in the Alpha Quadrant, and one in the Gamma Quadrant."

"And you can assure us none of those ships could have entered Romulan space?"

"At top speed, the closest ship would still be 4 weeks behind."

"No further questions." the arbiter added, taking a seat.  The judge now looked to T'Lara.  "Your witness, Commander, if you wish it."

[Evandav Bervarn]

[Don Damien Addams]

[Sally Ride]

Don frowned how Gohun said murderous. That was a strong word. He wondered the  El-Aurian was part of Betazoid too. Cause he said he sensed it. Which was interesting. Then Gohun told Torra and not him. Don frowned. The gray hair man had to find a way to talk to the new crewmember.

Damn... forgive me..." he said, moving up to the front of the shuttle.  "There... alter course to 193.5 mark 287.  Their shields emit from the front back, if you hit these coordinates on both ships, you can disrupt their singularity balance and disable their engines for a few minutes.  They'll have to realign the singularity matrix precisely before they can safetly go to warp... especially to cloak."

"Don't ask me about the other ship.  I have never seen it before." he said, sitting back down.  "Just get us out of here.  I can call for support once we leave this system."

"Thank you," Don said as he placed the coordinates 193.5 mark 287 in the computer to go there. "Crewman Gohun prepare to fire phasers at the target our friend shared us."

The other ship Don had never seen before which looked like the Discovery. This was interesting enough.

"Ensign Danjar- Torra keep a keen eye on the sensors on the Romulan ships. We want to be sure things do not go wrong," he shared. "And prepare to open communications as we get clear. We can do this and we be fine," he shot a look to the Romulan.

[Nira Said]

[Danjar-Torra Addams]

Ensign Danjar-Torra Addams
[Shuttlecraft Sally Ride - Escaping orbit of O'kin VII]

Runabout possibly a shuttlecraft
Gohun sat there kind of dumbfounded. They did realize that he tried to hail Discovery and that the ship had to know their craft was there because jamming was an action. If they had not known the Runabout was there, then they would not be jamming. Gohun could tell that they were angry with him and scared. The kind of scared that one person gets before a fight scared and adrenaline rushing.
...
This is why Gohun launched the probe. While the transmission could be blocked longwave, he could send a short transmission to the Discovery. Gohun sent a focused transmission to the probe, and hopefully, the probe is far enough away that it was able to send a short message. The message Gohun sent was imminent danger and their coordinates. With that, Gohun looked over.
Gohun,

Gohun,

The empathic El-Aurian's remarks gained her attention and Torra nodded acknowledging them,  a slight frown on her normally smiling features.  Why couldn't they all just get along?

Torra turned back to the Romulan in their midst.  The Grazerite felt sorry for him.  She had with her question, put a large burden on him.

[Escaping orbit of O'Kin VII]

The Uhlan looked at the others in disgust.  "Do you really expect me to help you attack my brethren?" he stated... at least until a side blow from the disruptor below demonstrated that these Romulans didn't care who was on the shuttle.

"Damn... forgive me..." he said, moving up to the front of the shuttle.  "There... alter course to 193.5 mark 287.  Their shields emit from the front back, if you hit these coordinates on both ships, you can disrupt their singularity balance and disable their engines for a few minutes.  They'll have to realign the singularity matrix precisely before they can safetly go to warp... especially to cloak."

"Don't ask me about the other ship.  I have never seen it before." he said, sitting back down.  "Just get us out of here.  I can call for support once we leave this system."

Torra dipped her head gratefully towards the uhlan as he pointed out a set of coordinates and weakness in the two uncloaking ships.  "Thank you."

Before she could ask Donny to alter course, he took over, issuing orders.

[Sally Ride]

Don frowned how Gohun said murderous. That was a strong word. He wondered the  El-Aurian was part of Betazoid too. Cause he said he sensed it. Which was interesting. Then Gohun told Torra and not him. Don frowned. The gray hair man had to find a way to talk to the new crewmember.

"Thank you," Don said as he placed the coordinates 193.5 mark 287 in the computer to go there. "Crewman Gohun prepare to fire phasers at the target our friend shared us."

The other ship Don had never seen before which looked like the Discovery. This was interesting enough.

"Ensign Danjar-Torra keep a keen eye on the sensors on the Romulan ships. We want to be sure things do not go wrong," he shared. "And prepare to open communications as we get clear. We can do this and we be fine," he shot a look to the Romulan.

It was then that she realized why he'd seemed upset.  She'd had completely ignored his higher rank during this mission, because in her mind Commander Sigurdsdottir had given the mission to her.  She'd assumed the Commander had suggested Don as pilot not as a ranking officer to take over the mission... but just as her husband to give them time together - that just seemed the Commander's friendly style.  But Donny wouldn't have known that.. and she'd just assumed Command.  'Oh dear!'  She glanced to her patient husband with an understanding that had been absent before.

When he gave her an order to keep an eye on the sensors, Torra gave a quick acknowledging nod.  "Yes sir, right away."  Now that she knew where the misunderstanding was she would be sure to not let it interfere again.  Besides which Don would be better at commanding during a battle anyways.

As Don brought them around into position and started on the attack run, Torra called out the sensor stats on the enemy vessels. 

Torra was in awe of Donny's flying ability as he nimbly flew Sally Ride between the Romulan ships and the phaser fire of third attempting to stop them.  Though sound didn't travel in the vacuum of space.. Torra imagined what the sound of the phaser might be as Sally's weapons struck out at the two enemy ships in precise shots.   

In under 3 seconds, the Sally Ride was emerging from her strafing run, no worse for wear.  That however couldn't be said of two of the Romulan ships.  Uhlan tr'Ethian had provided accurate coordinates and both were currently floundering without power. 

"Both ships are temporarily disabled..." she called out before reading the sensor info on the third ship that was continuing to fire at them.  "The third is breaking orbit and giving chase."

She adjusted her sensors again to focus on the stats.  "Their shielding will negate even a concentrated combined strike of our phasers.   I don't think we can do anything but run at this point."  she advised then looked to Don expectantly.

[Zed Masters]

[CSO's Office]

"Thanks, Counsellor...and Commander." Luby said both for the backing up of the story... which was a viable hurdle that she hadn't thought of as well as for letting her take the lead. Thanks given to Commander Sigurdsdottir for praising her efficiency, and for allowing the informality... something that didn't come easily to Luby, being only a cadet... she hoped to graduate this year but she knew that would depend on a report from Captain Tekin for her work on the Discovery.

"As it happens, when it comes to engineering you might prove useful here too.  I'll do this as simply as I can, but there might be some engineer-y bits that you, Commander might not get that perhaps the counsellor could elaborate on later, and Science-y parts that I know you will understand, but Ze - Mr. Masters can pick my brains about later."  '...or any other part of me he wishes to pick...' Luby thought to herself.

She wandered over and plonked herself down on the seat.

"Right first off the Drone ship's relevant info: Advanced experimental starship developed by the Romulans originally around 2150s.  It's tech specs are that as of 2150, at least 2 prototypes of the vessel were built, our drone could be another one altogether but I suspect works along same lines.  Base is a modified warbird, hence being able to cloak, propulsion systems and circuitry largely identical to warships of that era.  I wouldn't mind betting that they've updated it to a more modern version now however."  Luby paused, coughing slightly, and gestured to Zed and asked.

"Would it be possible for Mr. Masters to get me some water? I'll try to break this down but it's all relevant, and I've taken most of the blah out of the report!" she said with a grin.

"To continue...the vessels are designed to be remotely controlled via 3rd party by an Aenar pilot via telepathy, from an ops tower.  Aenars are, if I remember correctly a sub-species of Andorians but they are blind telepaths.  I know they came from Andoria.  Previously the Aenar pilot was doing this involuntarily. The Romulans oversaw this, the original pilot had been captured or kidnapped, I don't know if it was specifically for this task, but either way, he was forced."

Luby looked sad but continued.

"When a drone ship was boarded, they found that the bridge was dominated by a large subspace transceiver, to receive the orders from Romulus, it was cramped, mostly devoid of life support since the ship was remotely operated.  It also had an auto repair system for correcting damage through combat. Also much more manoeuvrable due to not needing to cater for a crew, so inertial dampeners were not needed.  They could dodge photonic torpedoes using barrel rolls.  This I think may be significant if the mimic ship was doing things that our Discovery shouldn't be doing... not so much couldn't, but you know our crew might not take it so kindly if we didn't use the inertial dampeners where possible!"

She chuckled and added,

"Leastways there'd be a lot more for me and the rest of the medical crew to do, if that were the case, but need to get through this as quickly as possible so I'll get on.  In 2154, a drone ship was used to try to destabilise potential alliances between Earth and the Andorians and Tellarites.  This was known as the Babel Crisis, I've included a full brief in the information I sent across to you.  It was equipped with an advance mulitspectral emitter system, to create wave outputs at or about the frequency of light, I'll let you do the science bits there Commander, which allowed the ship to assume the appearance of any other vessel almost.  The ship's disruptors used tri-phasic emmiters, and these could mimic the weapon signature of many ships including the Andorian particle cannons and Tellarite disruptors and... our own Starfleet phase cannons."

Luby licked her drying lips, to finally conclude her report.

"Using these abilities they threatened a war between the Andorians and Tellarites, destroyed the Kumari while disguised as a Tellarite vessel, then attacked a vessel carrying the Tellarite ambassador while disguised as an Andorian warship.  They went on to try involving Humans, and Vulcans by destroying a Rigellian ship while mimicking the Enterprise.  Thus we see that they can assume many shapes and importantly, have assumed the shape of Federation vessels, for the purpose of causing war.  Later they launched a 2nd drone ship, used with the 1st to attack the Enterprise.  They were both destroyed because Aenar siblings managed to communicate and the pilot's love for his sister was enough to get him to use the drone ships to attack one another and destroyed one, letting the Enterprise destroy the other."

The cadet finally ran down like a clockwork toy out of winde.

"If the false Discovery, was also piloted by an Aenar, then we need to use our telepaths if we have them, to try to contact them directly. Or manage to destroy the telepresence unit on that ship.  It's still out there and could still cause a threat to us or other Federation ships, since we don't know if it was the Federation, Starfleet Command or specifically the Discovery or Captain Tekin that someone has it in for!"

[CSO's Office]

Zed had moved to grab Wentock's water as he heard the mention of 'telepaths if we have them'. He froze a moment, knowing what came next. A sad look appeared on his face, unseen now that he had his back turned, as he continued through the motions of getting the water. Once the glass had appeared in-front of him in the replicator he grabbed it and moved back to Luby's side as he tried to hide the feeling that he'd buried down. "We have telepaths." His voice was slightly strained as he extended the water out. "We even have a particularly powerful one in the room." His voice reflected the somber feeling he now had. "But there's cost associated with it. Especially at the scale we're talking about. I'm not even sure that it would be possible to do at that range, but if it is, it's not without its dangers for me though." Masters added, already somewhat feeling the upcoming pain.

The counselor paused for a few seconds and then continued. "I'm willing to try, but if I do this I'd like to request both of you to come with me. Multiple reasons, but most importantly I'll need to be monitored. Plus, once I've reached out I need people around to guide me back. On a local scale, it's easy to know what's here and what's in the mental space, but at this range, the two could really start to blend for me. Familiar voices can anchor me. Right now I've heard more of your two voices on this ship than anyone elses. Especially your voice Luby."

[T'Lara]

[Escaping orbit of O'Kin VII]

The Uhlan looked at the others in disgust.  "Do you really expect me to help you attack my brethren?" he stated... at least until a side blow from the disruptor below demonstrated that these Romulans didn't care who was on the shuttle.

"Damn... forgive me..." he said, moving up to the front of the shuttle.  "There... alter course to 193.5 mark 287.  Their shields emit from the front back, if you hit these coordinates on both ships, you can disrupt their singularity balance and disable their engines for a few minutes.  They'll have to realign the singularity matrix precisely before they can safetly go to warp... especially to cloak."

"Don't ask me about the other ship.  I have never seen it before." he said, sitting back down.  "Just get us out of here.  I can call for support once we leave this system."


[Tryka Orbital Station - Courtroom]

"... and from there, we were told to stand down by General Tam'lok." Nevir stated, finishing his recounting of their honestly uneventful events. 

"You insist that you had no part in the ordering of the attack on the station?" the arbiter asked, clearly trying to set up the Captain for a slip-up.

"There was no ship or station where we were at the time of the attack.  There was no red alert, let alone an order."

"That may be your opinion, Captain.  But this... this says otherwise.  If not you, then explain how a Federation warship beat you into our system, and was able to attack this system.  How many of this class exists?"

"There are 6 active ships of this class in service."

"How many not in service?"

"Two."

"And where are they?"

"That is classified, but I can tell you one was destroyed, and the other dismantled.  Neither ship exists."

"And the others?"

"Again, classified, but three are within the core worlds of the Federation, two primarily in the Alpha Quadrant, and one in the Gamma Quadrant."

"And you can assure us none of those ships could have entered Romulan space?"

"At top speed, the closest ship would still be 4 weeks behind."

"No further questions." the arbiter added, taking a seat.  The judge now looked to T'Lara.  "Your witness, Commander, if you wish it."

[Tryka Orbital Station - Courtroom]

T'Lara listened as the captain finished his account and clasped her hands together as she concentrated on her own response. She had plenty of speculation about the true reason why her crew was framed for the crimes, but this wasn't the time for that. Instead she stood stoically and confirmed his statements.

"Everything Captain Nevir has stated is correct according to my memory. The only thing I was not able to witness was when he sent the message of our tardiness to Tryka Control, however I did receive a written report that it was sent which can be accessed if needed."

She looked around the room, waiting to see what they wanted from her next. Waited for the opportunity to reveal what she knew about the truth behind the trial.

[Don Damien Addams]

Ensign Danjar-Torra Addams
[Shuttlecraft Sally Ride - Escaping orbit of O'kin VII]

The empathic El-Aurian's remarks gained her attention and Torra nodded acknowledging them,  a slight frown on her normally smiling features.  Why couldn't they all just get along?

Torra turned back to the Romulan in their midst.  The Grazerite felt sorry for him.  She had with her question, put a large burden on him.

Torra dipped her head gratefully towards the uhlan as he pointed out a set of coordinates and weakness in the two uncloaking ships.  "Thank you."

Before she could ask Donny to alter course, he took over, issuing orders.

It was then that she realized why he'd seemed upset.  She'd had completely ignored his higher rank during this mission, because in her mind Commander Sigurdsdottir had given the mission to her.  She'd assumed the Commander had suggested Don as pilot not as a ranking officer to take over the mission... but just as her husband to give them time together - that just seemed the Commander's friendly style.  But Donny wouldn't have known that.. and she'd just assumed Command.  'Oh dear!'  She glanced to her patient husband with an understanding that had been absent before.

When he gave her an order to keep an eye on the sensors, Torra gave a quick acknowledging nod.  "Yes sir, right away."  Now that she knew where the misunderstanding was she would be sure to not let it interfere again.  Besides which Don would be better at commanding during a battle anyways.

As Don brought them around into position and started on the attack run, Torra called out the sensor stats on the enemy vessels. 

Torra was in awe of Donny's flying ability as he nimbly flew Sally Ride between the Romulan ships and the phaser fire of third attempting to stop them.  Though sound didn't travel in the vacuum of space.. Torra imagined what the sound of the phaser might be as Sally's weapons struck out at the two enemy ships in precise shots.   

In under 3 seconds, the Sally Ride was emerging from her strafing run, no worse for wear.  That however couldn't be said of two of the Romulan ships.  Uhlan tr'Ethian had provided accurate coordinates and both were currently floundering without power. 

"Both ships are temporarily disabled..." she called out before reading the sensor info on the third ship that was continuing to fire at them.  "The third is breaking orbit and giving chase."

She adjusted her sensors again to focus on the stats.  "Their shielding will negate even a concentrated combined strike of our phasers.   I don't think we can do anything but run at this point."  she advised then looked to Don expectantly.

[Sally Rider]

The time was ticking away way to fast. The ex-space racer pilot had to quickly make a snap roll from the ship which was close. After snapping the shuttle away from the other incoming third ship. He pulled the shuttle up above the Romulan ships.

Of course the Romulans sensor reader was amazed the way the shuttle was moving. The Romulan officer had not said nothing fearing that he would sound amazed of the pilot. He had let his commander officer that they are slipping away.

The two Romulan ships had trying to pull into action.

"Now would be good idea hit them!" he exclaimed.

That was when the third Romulan ship was advancing on them. There was no way he had to wait. He had PUNCHED IT! Which the Sally Rider had leaped in Warp.

They got a pursuit. The Sally Rider was going to be bringing a visitor unless some odd reason the Romulan ship which had look like Discovery had decided to stay behind.

There lives was on his hands. Even that Romulan who had agreed to aid them. Which was a smart thing to do.

"Not a good day to die," he said to everyone and shot a side look at the Romulan visitor. Not sure the whole story with that fellow. He was with the New Romulan or the Bad. Hell. He was not sure the whole story was about.

It felt good to have a Romulan who had helped them. Of course Ensign Gohun had done his part. It was at a disadvantage cause he had to go from communications to the phasers.

"We are not clear yet," he told them. "Let them we are coming."