No One Left Behind Part I
Posted on Sat May 9th, 2026 @ 6:03pm by James Leyton & Major Edmund Merrick & Petty Officer 3rd Class Emiko Marley & Lieutenant Mira Jayna & Sergeant Adélaïde Moreau & Sergeant Andrew Shy
Edited on on Sat May 9th, 2026 @ 6:03pm
1,835 words; about a 9 minute read
Mission:
The Cure: Operation Kakori
Location: Breyet Nor - The Badlands
Timeline: MD004 1600 hrs
Edmund turned to the team he had put together when he decided to go against orders. But that is a discussion for when the dust settled. "You three are being sent on an important mission. You are to go find Jayna and Marley, and get them out of the difficulty they are in. Be wary, do what you can to get them. No one is to be left behind. Keep me informed and Overwatch will be listening as well. Are we clear?" He looked at Walken, "I know this is tossing you into the fire as it were, but you are needed to lead this team. Moreau, search and rescue is your specialty, this is up your alley." Edmund looking at her. "Shy, you've got your specialties as well. Keep me informed, watch your backs and get our people." Edmund stated.
If he'd been asked, Andrew would have expounded on just how terrific it was to have a new (at least to the Cure) PoS (Platoon Sergeant) taking the reins in a rescue mission when the team already had an extraction to make. The tac specialist leaned back against the tube wall and let his frustration show by banging the back of his head (gently) against the metal surface and said, "Not for nothing, but we were looking for a distraction to grab the primary, major."
"That is true, this though needs to be done as well. Hence my putting this team together." Edmund giving a sharp glance towards Shy.
"Walken, Moreau, do you have something to say before you head on out? Now's the time to say something, before you go after them." Edmund's voice gruff, and filled with steel.
Adélaïde shifted where she was crouched in the junction, one shoulder brushing the bulkhead as she adjusted her footing in the cramped space. Her eyes moved from Merrick to Walken, then over to Andrew for a beat, and there was the faintest lift at one corner of her mouth.
“He’s not wrong,” she said, easy enough, not pushing against anything, just putting it where it was. “This got a bit more complicated than it was five minutes ago.”
She reached up and settled the strap of her kit more comfortably on her shoulder, the motion small and familiar. No point pretending otherwise. Quaid had been one thing. A brig rescue on top of that was another.
“But they’re ours,” she went on, like that settled the important part. “So we go get them.”
A breath passed while she turned it over in her head. Search and rescue wasn’t just dragging people out once the shooting started. Half of it was reading the shape of a place before you moved, figuring out the rhythm of it, spotting where people came and went, where security thickened, where someone had built in a weakness without meaning to.
“Brig’ll be tight, but that’s not all bad,” she said, glancing between Walken and Andrew now. “Places like that run on routine. Guards, access, movement, support systems. If we don’t rush it, we can read the pattern first and work from there.”
She let out a small breath through her nose, something between a sigh and a shrug.
“Plans go sideways. That’s hardly new.”
Then her gaze settled properly on Walken, steady and level, no challenge in it.
“You lead, we’ll back your play. We know how to work together.”
Andrew kept his peace, though he could feel his heartbeat elevating. Apparently they were going no matter how much sense it didn't make... Instead, he murmured, "SNAFU..."
"Well, I can see us doing this two ways should nothing go wrong, get to the right access panel I should in theory be able to take control of the doors. Seal a few off, open a few others then you swoop in and grab our people. Or, we take the longer approach study the patrol patterns and push in between shifts. Thoughts? I'm open to ideas should any of you have one." Walken finally spoke up.
Andrew eyed the new Sergeant and considered. Last time he checked, it wasn't up to them to come up with the plan. Just do their best to carry out a plan or die trying. He rubbed at his forehead and murmured. "We're off mission with no walk-throughs or plan. Sliding right past FUBAR towards BOHICA."
Over the marines com =^= We're heading to our position, you've got thirty minutes or less to get things happening clock's ticking=^= came Merrick's voice. =^=None of us want to miss the bus=^=
As soon as the door closed behind them, Jayna began to slowly pace around the cell. At least, that's what she wanted it to look like. While she walked, she took note of everything. The walls, the ceiling, the floor, the door. She knew there was no way to break out, but it helped her know the exact dimensions of the cell, how the door closed, if there were any irregularities she could exploit. Nothing. She could have disappeared as soon as they found out their activity had been spotted, but not with Emiko. The noncom didn't have the experience and they'd be caught escaping. That would have put them in a far worse situation
The best they could hope for now was that the alterations to the computer were good enough to make their captors believe someone in a nearby room was actually the saboteur. If they could pull that off, they would live, but they'd be watched carefully and she wasn't sure Emiko could maintain her cover that long. Rescue was not likely. It wasn't that Jayna didn't believe Neil would come after her if he could, but there was too much at stake and he was still on the Valiant. They would just have to stay cool and hope for the best.
She sat on a narrow bunk near Emiko. "Once they verify that whoever hacked their computer wasn't us, they'll let us get back to work. Until then, we sit back and enjoy their hospitality." She hoped Emiko understood the underlying message to stay calm and say nothing.
Emiko sat impassively on the bunk and said nothing, a welt appearing on her face where she was hit by the Cardassian. There was nothing to do right now but sit and wait. Either they would be rescued, or they would likely be killed. Why? Because she somehow made a mistake in her encryptions and data routing.
Silently, she replayed everything in her mind as she tried to sort out where she made a mistake. Should she have moved faster? Used more buoys? What was it?
Her thoughts were interrupted by Jayna talking. Emiko was not certain what she had been doing. Nor was Emiko certain what Jayna had said because she was lost in her own thoughts. So, for an apparent answer, she gave a small nod at Jayna.
Jayna chuckled softly. "I can see by the look in your eyes you weren't listening. I said that once they figure out the hacker was in another room, they'll let us get back to work. Although they're likely to watch us for a while first. Give us even more meaningless jobs. But that's what happens if you're in the wrong place at the wrong time." She fully expected someone to be listening to them and she was no fool. Usually.
James Leyton had been on the station for some time. This was his home now. A plan that had been birthed over a bottle of kanar somewhere in Cardassian space. Gul Prenar and James had become allies of convenience. They had mutual goals and so they worked to get them done. However, all that changed when the Starfleet shuttle showed up out of nowhere. He did not believe the defection story, not one bit. But they had an outdated access code, and Typhon believed them so here they were. Additionally, among them was Makeba Brown someone he had not seen in a proverbial dog's age. Someone he owed.
At the moment he stepped into the Brig thinking that he had been correct. He walked up to the cell with a smile. "Ladies, welcome to Breyet Nor. The Cardassians do so love their flair for the dramatic. Let's begin with you telling me who you are, shall we."
He waited a few seconds to see if they would speak. Before they could get a word out he continued. "You know what. No, need. I have the information right here." He showed them a PADD he held and read from it. "Here we have Mira Jayna. Rank Lieutenant. Serial Number MJ-5409-332095. Current Assignment USS Pioneer SFMC Detachment 74757. Here is Emiko Marley. Rank Petty Officer Third Class. Serial Number EM-9043-666320. Current Assignment USS Pioneer Intelligence Department Communications Specialist." He laughed and pointed at the ceiling. "Facial recognition all over the station. I programmed them myself. Now, with the formalities out of the way. Care to tell me what the hell you are doing on my station."
Jayna looked at him coolly and raised an eyebrow. She recognized him from their briefings and her undercover assignment on Empok Nor. Leyton himself. This was unexpected and unwelcome. It changed everything and yet changed nothing. "Your information is...limited. I was on the Pioneer." She could not--would not--betray the mission or the rest of the team.
Emiko picked up on Jayna's lead. "I did not agree with the Federation either. So, when my mentor told me that she was leaving, I came with her."
Jayna raised an eyebrow at Leyton and smiled.
Leyton returned the smile, although his looked more sinister. "You are talking to a man who by all rights is the Director of Starfleet Operations. Do not try to tell me how limited my information is." He was about to turn on Emiko and ask exactly what she did not agree with, when his thoughts were interrupted by a new arrival.
A Joint Post By
James Leyton
Commanding Officer, New Maquis Forces
Sergeant Adélaïde Moreau
SAR Specialist, Team 2, The Cure
USS Pioneer
Petty Officer Third Class Emiko Marley
Intelligence Communications Specialist, USS Pioneer
Sergeant Andrew Shy
Tactical Systems Operator, Team 2, The Cure
USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Mira Jayna
Intelligence Officer, The Cure
USS Pioneer
Major Edmund Merrick
Company Commanding Officer Officer, The Cure
USS Pioneer
RSS Feed