"Martyr syndrome" by Lieutenant T'Kang Chief Tactical Officer USS Tempest http://come.to/tkang Lieutenant T'Kang stood at the Tempest's tactical station uneasily. Recent events in the Confederation had lead to the ship's following of an unsanctioned course of action that could likely result in the entire crew being declared renegades and traitors within Starfleet Command. It was a troubling thought. Ensign Soran hailed the burly Klingon asking for a status update and offering his services. T'Kang imagined with the uncertainty and uneasy feelings the command crew was experiencing, just how the lower ranks and file were reacting to the mysterious orders and orders of radio silence. ++Taps++ "Very well Ensign, report to the bridge. You may assist in monitoring the sensors up here and try to make sense out of this random interference we seem to be experiencing." T'Kang responded. ++Taps++ "I'm on my way sir!" said an enthusiastic Soran. A short time later Ensign Soran arrived on the bridge, happy to be able to participate. "Ensign, see if you can do anything with our sensors. There seems to be some strange sort of interference that is hampering their effectiveness." T'Kang instructed. Soran quickly made a few adjustments. "It almost looks like a blanket interference field of some sort. If I can isolate the blanking frequency I might be able to modify our sensors to compensate." "Make it so Ensign." T'Kang huffed in a gruff, Klingon voice. His frustration with the current situation and renegade status obvious in his tone. "That's odd. . ." Soran commented loud enough to catch even Lieutenant Cowan's attention from the Command chair. "What is it Ensign?" Cowan asked. "Incoming transmission on all wide band frequencies from the Cortez sir. It's faint because of the interfearence, but I think I can get a visual." Soran explained. "On screen Ensign." Cowan ordered returning his gaze forward to the main viewer. The stars were quickly replaced with the static filled image of Commander Erdem from the Cortez. "Starfleet Officers. I am Commander Okan M. Erdem, Commandant of Cortez and a person who shared the same oath with you. An oath to protect lives, an oath to guard Federations principles, an oath to serve to some people, who can build up a strategy to defend these ideals' he looked down. 'Yet today, the people we are serving are the wrong people. They use SF for their dirty work, as a pawn in their big game called 'the capture of whole galaxy'. We cannot allow this, my oath prevents me to be part of this plan and your oath prevents you. Not long ago, I was captured by a special team, mentioning there will be a *phantom* trial and was framed into eternity. If some people who are still remembering their oath, weren't there, I was lost in their dungeon, serving to their goal.' He waited some seconds to have the peak of audience. 'My call is simple people, we need to unite against that barricade of darkness. We need to fight for what we believe in. We need to die but not quit fighting.....' he looked once more above, like he was facing all the officers on the other end of the transmission. Like they once said.... Take the shield or over it....." The image ended, returning the forward view of the star studded space before the Tempest. "That's the end of the transmission Captain." Soran explained. T'Kang simply growled. He didn't like this at all. The Commander had just broadcast to the entire quadrant an open invitation to defy Starfleet Command. Serving on board a starship in violation of general orders was one thing, broadcasting open defiance was another. Why not just paint a giant red bull's eye on the saucer section of their ships with a "shoot me" sign? Certainly that would be what Rear Admiral Za'Kal would order next after Commander Erdem's proclamation of defiance against Starfleet Command. "Sir. I need to see you in the Captain's ready room." T'Kang declared boldly in a no nonsense tone that Cowan knew was going to mean trouble. Pointing towards to ready room, the Lieutenant waited for T'Kang to march on in before following himself and letting the door swish shut. "You wish to have a word with me Lieutenant?" Cowan asked. "Permission to speak freely sir." the Klingon declared proudly. "Granted." Cowan sighed, expecting what was coming. "Commander Erdem's broadcast has just jeopardized any advantage we had in discovering what was going on in Starfleet Command. It is my opinion that any ship that joins forces with the Cortez from this point forward will be targeted and branded by Starfleet Command as traitors and renegades. The Commander speaks of his oath to Starfleet and in the same breath condones violating that very promise to fight some phantom force of darkness. The man must be mad. He even declares his intentions to die fighting." T'Kang vents. "A hand full of starships is no match for the bulk of Starfleet's thousands of ships. Commander Erdem must be mad to have broadcast that message over sub-space for the entire Confederation to hear it. Either he is mad, insane from his earlier capture and torture, or he is not what he appears to be." "A ruse to flush out ships that are not loyal to the Confederation?" Cowan asked. "Possibly. We are presently experiencing this blanket interference field which has still not been explained. It hampers our sensors and communications. Who is to say the Cortez and Commander Erdem isn't part of this entire conspiracy? His declaration message the bait in an elaborate trap; a gauntlet designed to eliminate Admiral Za'Kal opposers in one foul swoop?" T'Kang suggested with a pause, "If we risk exposing ourselves now, we may be playing right into Za'Kal's hands." Cowan scratched his chin while he thought about what the Chief Tactical Officer had brought up. The Klingon had a valid point, broadcasting their intentions to oppose Starfleet Command to the entire quadrant didn't appear to make very much sense.