The Veil of the Sky
After The Captain's Cotillion, the USS Rosenante was once again underway to continue her survey of Sector 6309 as she had been ordered. During this time, the crew encountered an unusual comet, which later became known as Comet Holladay in honor of the scientist who detected it by long-range scans. Detailed scans and trajectory studies were underway, when an urgent message from Starfleet Command was received.
The Communique
The message from Starfleet Command was grim. Events on the planet Beta Aquillia IV had resulted in the overthrow of the pro-Federation government that had previously ruled there.
The new regime was a pro-isolationist group known as the Veil of the Sky. The group in prior years had been politically active, although their agenda was not exceptionally popular. The group, led by Habrii and his lieutenant Alaya had managed to seize almost complete control of the planet, using a series of coordinated military attacks.
During this time of sudden unrest, several Embassies were overrun and their staff taken hostage by the new leadership on the planet. Among those held were Federation Ambassador Joanne Turner and her staff including some Starfleet Marines.
Some refugees and members of the disposed government in exile managed to find shelter at Atlantis Station, a luxury hotel, located off the coastal beaches adjacent to the Capital city of Joba.
The Rosenante's mission was to secure the release of all Federation hostages through diplomacy or military action as needed. In addition she was to investigate the sudden unexpected military support and prowess acquired by the Veil of the Sky. It was generally believed that since Beta Aquillia IV was situated inside the disputed Sector 6309 that agents of the Tal'Shiar or the Obsidian Order could be behind the success of the Veil. Both the Romulan Star Empire and the Cardassian Union were attempting to lay claim to portions of the sector, despite Federation claims to the territory, already in place.
Because Beta Aquillia IV was a pro-Federation world, with large resources of tritanium ore, which was being used to reconstruct Starfleet vessels lost during the Federation Civil War, the loss of a pro-Federation government on the planet could prove disastrous.
Planning the Mission
Significant mission planning was needed due to the scale of the disruption of the population on Beta Aquillia IV. Some fighting between loyalist and Veil military forces was underway, and Salid saw that the Rosenante would need to be ready to support refugees in addition to the operations to recover Federation personnel.
To those ends, plans were put underway to prepare refugee camps, where housing, basic nutritional needs, medical needs, and security could be secured. Uncertain of the number of potential refugees they could face, the Rosenante teams were ordered to rig the ship for maximum evacuation operations.
Plans were being established to set up operational command centers on the planet for the purpose of coordinating all ground operations there. Ideally the primary center would be established at Atlantis Station which was owned and operated by a Federation citizen, Niambh McNulty, as it was most centrally located and most easily defended.
In addition the fact that several freighters were captured by the Veil immediately after their coup and were subsequently being refit with weapons, created a military threat to the Rosenante, her crew and her mission. As such, a plan to neutralize those threats was developed, whereby the Klingon fighter, maQmIgh piloted by Lanista would deploy special nanite-based weapons programmed by newly commissioned Ensign Andrew Elliot Maddox. The purpose would be to launch the weaponized nanites against the freighters in an apparently unsuccessful attack. The nannies would then insinuate themselves into the communication and control systems of those ships allowing the Rosenante to eavesdrop on their communications and to neutralize critical systems should it be needed.
With little time and many preparations required, the crew began the complex task of preparing for disaster relief on a war torn world.
Arrival in System
Two days at high warp later, the USS Rosenante arrived in the Beta Aquillia system. The number of freighters that the veil had captured had increased to five in the short time, but as none were ready to be deployed, Salid saw no immediate threat.
The ship assumed as Geosynchronous Orbit over the capital city of Joba and a general pre-mission briefing called, for later that day. Before the meeting however, the arrival of another starship brought everyone to high alert.
The ship hailed the Rosenante and was identified as being the Skorr starship Skysplitter a Worldripper Class vessel. The ship was under the command of Ambassador Dralar who was on leave from the Rosenante, where he normally served as the ship's helmsman. The vessel carried thousands of Swiftwing Class fighters and perhaps a million Skorr military soldiers, ready to deploy. In their haste to seize control of the government, they had taken hostage the ambassador and staff from Skoria, Toraz, which happened to be a member of the royal family.
Secret Plans and Machinations
Unknown to either the Skorr or the Federation a Cardassian Keldon Class starship, equipped with a cloaking device was also nearby, as were three Romulan D'deridex Class warbirds. The situation was tense and it was likely that all were involved in the developing situation taking place on the planet below.
The Romulans had already secreted a Tal'Shair agent onto the planet, named Trez, who was investigating a series of raids against military supply depots, in connection with a spy ring in the Romulan Capital City.
The Cardassians were also present, under the leadership of Gul Matan. It seemed that the Obsidian Order were also involved in some capacity.
With so many powerful factions involved, it was becoming likely that a single wrong move could result in conflict between the participants. This hope was a key pin to the plans of Obsidian Order operative Dula.
Negotiations
It took a full two days after the arrival of the USS Rosenante before the Aquillians agreed to any sort of negotiations with the Federation delegation. The Veil of the Sky assigned the Ambassador of the prior regime to handle the negotiations. Ambassador Tzorn was not given much of an opportunity to turn down the task, as he was threatened with legal action if he failed.
To ensure his cooperation and adherence to the Veil's dogma, Alaya decided to accompany the negotiations in person. For the Federation, Captain Salid assigned Ben Soma to lead the delegation. On his team was Nayeli, Parker Davis, Thomas Jackson, Sanok, and Niambh McNulty. Accompanying them to represent the Skorr interests was Ambassador Dralar, who had been assigned to replace his brother Ambassador Toraz.
The meeting between the two powers was tense and full of demands. The Veil revealed that they would release the Ambassador only if the Federation Council agreed to recognize the Veil of the Sky as the rightful government of Beta Aquillia IV. In addition they demanded the extradition of the president of the deposed regime, President Kolath.
Sometime during the meeting, Alaya frustrated by the apparent 'negotiations' between Habrii's government and the officers of the USS Rosenante caused her to push forward with a plan to bring things to a more decisive confrontation.
The Refugee Camp
For the first two days after arriving at the planet Beta Aquillia IV, the crew of the Rosenante began to establish a planet side Command Control and Communications Center at Atlantis Station as well as a Refugee Camp to handle the immediate needs of those fleeing the conflict zone. This need to protect the civilians seeking asylum stretched the resources of the Rosenante thin.
The situation became desperate when a pair of explosions detonated within the confines of the camp. The targets were the primary Security check point at the entry to the camp and the Sickbay. The explosions caused a great deal of damage, killing and wounding dozens, mostly Aquillians, although some Federation personnel were injured.
The act caused the C3 to ground all shuttle flights, forcing the returning delegation to land their runabout just outside of the secured perimeter. shortly after the delegation evacuated their vessel, a third explosion destroyed the vessel, without injury.
Rescue Operations
in response to the bombings, immediate Search and rescue operations commenced, The focus being on general site security and casualty triage. With teams working to clear debris and render medical aid to the afflicted, the situation stretched resources almost to the breaking point.
Captain Ahmed Ibn Salid surveyed the damage done on the site and decided to request military assistance from the Skorr to shore up site security. Ambassador Dralar agreed and Skorr troops were dispatched to supplement Federation security personnel.
Cloak and Dagger
While the majority of the Rosenante crew were engaged with the obvious actions of diplomacy and refugee camp operations, two members of the Rosenante's crew were conducting a form of investigation determined to create leads on the location of Ambassador Joanne Turner and to uncover the foreign power behind the sudden success of the Veil of the Sky.
Chance Raschen began to use his experience gained during the Irregular Federation Forces to conduct investigations into the mysterious powers behind the Veil's uncustomary success. During his three days of covert investigation Rachen uncovered a severed Cardassian arm that still bore a portion of a uniform. On that uniform was an emblem of the Obsidian Order. This was a significant clue, although it's validity was questioned by Lieutenant Sanok who surmised that it would have been possible to plant the arm in an area where it would likely be found. It was supposed that there was a possibility that another power, perhaps the Romulans were involved and that since this was a common means of misinformation, it was possible that it was a means to redirect suspicion to the Cardassians. It was unclear whether the Cardassians were involved and someone was pointing this out directly, or that they were not involved and the third party wanted the Federation to believe that they were involved thus throwing suspicion off the actual supporters behind the Veil's success.
Meanwhile, Mike Rosenbauer managed to befriend a young member of the Veil of the Sky named Sien. After some discussion Sien offered to help the Rosenante to locate their Ambassador. Sien used a variety of contacts and some influence to help develop a plan to gain entry into the central Veil headquarters.
In addition to the arm located by Raschen, Sanok located a Cardassian detonator that showed residual particles of Cardassian genetic material.
MORE COMING SOON!
