Agents of the Empire - Claimed

[Solluk]

Recently, Starfleet Intelligence has become aware of Romulan Tal-Shiar agents who have been cybernetically enhanced, possibly with reverse-engineered Borg technology.  This represents an unexpected cultural shift within the Romulan Empire, as such cybernetic enhancement was previously considered deeply offensive from a cultural standpoint. Now Starfleet Intelligence has been contacted by a high-ranking agent in the Tal-Shiar who is involved with their cyber-program and wants to defect, hoping that if he reveals the secrets of the project, it will be abandoned. The USS Yourship has been assigned to pick up the defector from the Afehirr Nebula which borders Romulan space, and then bring him back to Starbase 12 for debriefing.  The pickup proceeds as planned, but the Tal-Shiar does not seem prepared to let the defector go without a fight...

Starting Point: The USS Yourship has been assigned to pick up the defector from the Afehirr Nebula which borders Romulan space, and bring him back to Starbase 12 for debriefing.

End Goal: Yourship's crew discovers the defection is a ruse, designed to get a highly sophisticated computer virus into the Federation Datanet.

Story points that must be passed?:

I) The USS Yourship has been assigned to pick up the defector from the Afehirr Nebula which borders Romulan space, and bring him back to Starbase 12 for debriefing.

II) The pickup at the nebula goes off without a hitch.

III) The defector himself is augmented with cybernetic implants.  He says they are advanced combat implants, and he asks to have them removed.  He expresses great distaste for their presence, their having been installed against his will. Science and Medical personnel who examine the implants will discover that they have sophisticated tamper-proofing, and can only be safely removed at a starbase facility.

IV) Tal-Shiar vessels soon decloak and attack the Yourship.  The Tal-Shiar vessels are highly modified civilian freighters which have been armored, armed, and given the latest Romulan technology.  They initially perform quite well against the Yourship, even managing to get agents beamed aboard.  These agents are incredibly resilient due to their Borg implants, but remain entirely in control of their own actions.  They seem to be intent on murdering the defector, but are ultimately (with difficulty) defeated, whereupon they self-destruct.

V) The Tal-Shiar vessels begin experiencing problems, seemingly due to stretching the infrastructure limitations of the civilian craft they are based upon.  These systems failures allow Yourship to gain the upper hand.  When it becomes clear that Yourship will win the engagement, they self-destruct.

VI) The Yourship is in the clear, and will soon be able to dock at Starbase 12.  However, the Science and Medical Personnel, reviewing their scans of the defector's cybernetics, uncover a secret.  They learn that the cyberware has advanced transporter and computer technology built into it, but seems to do nothing to augment the user's combat abilities.  This is very unlike the cybernetics worn by the other Tal-Shiar agents, who displayed personal shields and combat augmentation.  This cyberware, by contrast, seems to be designed entirely as a sophisticated hacking and insertion rig.  Apparently, it is supposed to allow infiltration of Starbase 12's computers when it is examined there, and then use the starbase's secure datanet connection to corrupt all starbases and outposts along the neutral zone.  Once the code is planted, it would allow the Romulans to surreptitiously deactivate the tachyon detection grid and even disable starbase and outpost weapons and shields.

VII) When confronted with this information, the Defector seems startled.  He states that his opposition to the Tal-Shiar cybernetics program has clearly been used against him.  They must have realized that when he was forcibly implanted with cybertech against his will, he was likely to defect.  Then, gambling on that reaction, they used him as a carrier for infiltration tech.  At first angry, he then laughs, and finally erupts in violence, seizing a phaser from an (NPC) security officer, using it to disintegrate himself.

VIII) Initially thinking the matter is resolved- (if darkly)- the Science, Medical, or Engineering teams on board realize at the last moment that the suicide was a ruse.  The advanced transporter tech in the defector's implants could have beamed him away in such a fashion as to simulate a suicide.  But where would he go?

IX) It is further realized that there is only one place he would have desired to go.  Security teams are dispatched to the ship's computer core, where the 'defector' was about to plug-in to the central computer and infect the Yourship with his virus via direct upload. From there, the virus would infect any starbase the ship docked with via secure hardpoint datalines.

X) When security teams arrive, the 'defector' throws himself across two high-voltage power nodes, utterly cooking himself to death and shorting out his advanced gear.  Medical can confirm he is now truly dead, and Engineering, Ops, or Science can confirm he did not get the chance to implant his computer virus.  The Romulan government will disavow any knowledge of these happenings, attributing the affair to 'rogue elements' and thanking the Federation for stopping this 'criminal activity.'

Departments: (To make sure everyone has something to do.)

- Flight: There will be thrilling space combat with the Tal-Shiar ships.  Possibly embarked craft will be launched to give the Yourship some fire support and split enemy fire.

- Engineering: The Tal-Shiar ships will inflict significant damage on the Yourship before they are defeated.  In addition, Engineering could possibly be consulted on the cybernetic implants of the defector.

- Operations: Transferring power during the combat scenario and dispatching security and damage control teams will occupy them during battle.  It is also possible they will be consulted on matters related to the computer virus.

- Security and tactical: There will be weapons to fire and intruders to repel.

- Medical: Not only will there be injuries during combat, but the Medical and Science personnel will be instrumental in uncovering the Tal-Shiar plot.

- Science: The Science personnel will be instrumental in uncovering the Tal-Shiar plot, and may perform sensor tricks during combat to enhance Yourship's performance.

Note:  This mission is a twist on, and homage to, the TNG episode The Defector, which also featured a Romulan Defector who had been deceived.  In this case, however, the deception itself is also a ruse, and the defector is really a clever Tal-Shiar agent doing his duty for the Empire.   This mission also optionally connects to the 'Rising Empire' series of missions, explaining where the augmented Romulan operatives in that episode series come from.  (See: A Nest of Vipers.)  While these events are tangentially connected, there is no need for the same ship to be used in both stories, or indeed for the Rising Empire series to be used at all in order to enjoy this mission.

[T'Ra Jones]

If there's no objections, I intend to nab this for the Shran.