Captain’s Mission Report: Stardate 79618.24
Submitted to Commodore Aben Ch’THobar, Deep Space 47
Encode for level 5 clearance

Enclosed in this classified comm packet is everything we’ve discovered since the attack and abductions on Free Haven. What began as a targeted raid on an outlying colony word let us on a months long operation uncovering an advanced web of deceptions, spanning multiple sectors and engagements.

I can report that the Thunderchild did successfully recover one surviving abductee, as well as neutralized several hostile elements in the region. That being said, the mission was, at best, a hollow victory. We were manipulated from the onset, drawn into a meticulously crafted diversion that allowed the architects to achieve their objectives unimpeded.

Initially it appeared the attack was struck by Breen privateers who disabled the power grid and abducted roughly a dozen residents. One colonist was killed, and others were injured. Commander Velar’s away team confirmed sabotage via a Breen device, suggesting an insider. We detected a Breen warp trail and pursued.

The trail led to an ionic field with a decoy ship rigged with mines, which Commander Takahashi’s fighters expertly avoided. Planetside evidence pointed to Orion tech from the Rolor Nebula, linked to an arms broker named Dronaz. At his Septimus drydock, Lieutenant Ibanez’s MACO team secured the facility, and Velar confirmed the abductees were transferred to an Orion freighter.

Tracking the freighter to a Class-K system, we found it destroyed, likely sabotaged, with one deceased abductee. Its data core revealed a Cardassian Keldon-class cruiser’s involvement. Pursuing, we faced an ambush by the Keldon and three Hideki escorts. The Thunderchild prevailed, and Ibanez recovered a Vulcan colonist, T’Nali, in a stasis pod, but the other abductees were gone.

When Dr. Th’Íveqan decrypted data from the Keldon’s memory core, it showed several abductees were decoys, masking the extraction of former Obsidian Order operatives. A lead to Site “Nyseth,” an abandoned safehouse, proved a dead end, confirming we’d been misled. But we were able to uncover the puppet master of the entire sequence… Kaela Orin. The same former Obsidian Order operative that Captain Day and the Vallejo encountered at the asteroid Base Talloc Droja, where DS47 was the intended target of a Tzenkethi bomb.

Thankfully, T’Nali was returned to Free Haven, now fortified with orbital batteries. Minor crew injuries and ship damage were repaired en route.

Kaela Orin exploited our predictable response, using war-era tactics to divert us. I recommend intelligence audits and counter-deception training to counter her new “Ebon Order” network’s growing threat.

End Report

The Thunderchild’s ready room was a sanctuary of dim lights and quiet hums. Captain Rynar Jast sat at his desk, the glow of a PADD reflecting off the glass of green Aldebaran whiskey to his left as he finalized and transmitted the mission report for Deep Space 47. His dark hair was slightly tousled, a rare sign of the toll of months chasing ghosts. The report’s final words… growing threat… lingered like a bitter aftertaste.

The door chimed, and Commander Zuri Velar entered, her Starfleet field jacket unzipped, dust from Free Haven still clinging to its sleeves. Her brilliant emerald eyes carried a quiet intensity, the intricate braids of her Valmari crown frayed from long hours coordinating the colony’s new defensive systems. She set a PADD on the desk, its screen displaying fragmented data from the Keldon class vessel’s memory core.

“Vok’s team pulled more from the core,” she said, voice steady but edged with frustration. “Orin’s signature is everywhere, subtle, like a shadow. She’s not just reactivating sleeper cells. She’s building a network.”

Jast leaned back, fingers steepled, his gaze fixed on the PADD. “My last host, Lirien, ran ops against the Order during the Maelstrom purge. I knew their tactics… misdirection, decoys, precision. I should’ve seen this.” His tone was measured, but a flicker of self-reproach crossed his face. “Every move we made… Free Haven, Septimus, the traps, played into her hands.”

Velar crossed her arms, leaning against the bulkhead. “The crew’s feeling it too. Ibanez is drilling MACOs like it’s a vendetta. Takahashi’s running ambush sims around the clock, says she won’t be caught flat-footed again. Even T’Rell’s quieter… parsing sensor logs like they are hiding something.”

Jast’s lips twitched, not quite a smile. “And Th’Íveqan?”

“Brooding,” Velar replied. “Muttering about war scars and burned circuits. He’s got the Bynars recalibrating the telemetry array to cut through nebula haze. Says we won’t be blinded again.”

The door chimed again, and Dr. Thall Th’Íveqan strode in, his ice-blue Andorian frame radiating coiled energy. His antennae twitched, betraying the agitation his scowl tried to mask. “Captain, the array’s as precise as it’s going to get. Next time we hit a nebula, we’ll see through it like glass.” He paused, then added gruffly, “We got played. Dominion War tricks all over again… Breen tech, Cardassian shadows. I should’ve caught the siphon’s signature sooner.”

Jast stood, clasping Th’Íveqan’s shoulder. “You kept this ship alive through worse, Thall. We all missed it. Orin used our instincts against us to protect the colony and chase the trail. But we learn.” He turned to Velar. “Zuri, prep new protocols. Counter deception drills, intel cross checks. That’s the last time we dance to her tune.”
Velar nodded, her posture straightening. “I’ll work with Vok and Ibanez.

“Good,” Jast said, his voice firming. “She’s out there, building her web. But we’re going to find her… and we’re going to stop her.”

______________________________________

Kaela Orin stood on the darkened bridge of the Vortak, the Chel Grett cruiser that she had chosen as her flagship. Her features were sharp in the glow of tactical displays. Her black uniform, threaded with micro-armor plating, blended with the shadows, her piercing eyes betraying no hint of doubt. A holo-screen showed the Thunderchild’s warp trail fading into Federation space, a pawn retreating from her board.

Orin tapped an encrypted console, sending orders to sleeper cells across Federation worlds. “Phase three begins.”

The Vortak slipped deeper into the void, a phantom poised to sow chaos.