The Departure

Posted on Sat Jan 28th, 2023 @ 4:25am by Commander Sara Archer & Captain Brenda Sinclair & Lieutenant JG Mina Altair & Lieutenant Commander Felicie Rivero & Ensign Calliope Bradshaw

Mission: The Archan Job
Location: Runabout Bay

The runabout was just an interim transport to the surface where their other vehicles awaited them, but Mina was on board before anyone else, all made up and with a party to get to. Her jet black hair and some subtle makeup and bright red lipstick, with a few other tricks of the disguise trade made her face virtually unrecognizable than that of Mina Altair. The dress was almost scandalous, with only a pair of chic fabric arm-ringlets seeming to be the only thing holding the silky fabric up. Her two and a half inch heels clicked on the deck as she awaited the others.

Felicie was no stranger to dressing up, she quite enjoyed putting on a gorgeous dress, some strappy heels and dancing the night away when the time called for it, but this was different. The fact that they were unable to carry weapons made her choose her outfit carefully. The long royal blue skirt fell to her ankles, swishing gently and exposing the near thigh high slits on either side with each step she took. The bustier top attached to the skirt with silver straps twisted around her torso in a similar colour and fabric to the straps on her heels that criss crossed from her ankles to her thighs. Her hair had been twisted up in an intricate braided bun that was pinned with silvery decorative hair pins, only small curls falling to frame her face. All in all, she looked nothing like the security officer that stared back at her from the mirror before every shift on Starbase 332.

The Promenade. A bustle of activity. He hated it. Derick Evard, master of the SS Nova Dawn was enjoying some R&R. It was only a 48 hour layover, just long enough to of-load cargo, have a system calibration done, and let the crew get some shore-leave. He was not expecting quite the sight before him. Clearly dressed to the nines, the woman was crossing the Promenade with purpose, and a deliberate pace. 'Hubba hubba.' He thought, seeing the knock-out that was the royal blue dress pass by. He turned, admiring the back as well. Letting out a whistle of appreciation, Derrick continued to walk backwards, wanting to keep her in his sight for as long as possible.

As she walked into the shuttle bay she was well aware of the sound of her heels tap, tap, tapping with each step she took, not to mention the stares of shuttle techs as she crossed to the runabout, approaching Mina with a smile. "Guess we're the first ones to the party then?"

"Roight," Mina agreed with her typical Australian accent, really one of the very few hints that she was indeed Mina Altair in disguise. Her hair was as black as it was possible to get and still remain a natural color, though her eyes remained their sky blue. The silver dress left little to the imagination as was intended given that she was to be the very center of everyone's attention while the rest did what they needed to do. Even the silver hair decorations drew the eye to them and the sapphire droplets as they held her hairdo in place, "I dare say that this should be a fun, if safe, operation."

Calliope wore a charcoal grey ensemble. She wasn't all that enthused about dressing up so she found a design that was essentially a jumpsuit with a type of half skirt/train that was removable should they need to make a quick escape. She also searched for very short heels and found something called a 'kitten heel' in the database. It took an unreasonable amount time for her to dress and make herself presentable for the party. Leaving her quarters for the runabout she only hoped she wouldn't run into anyone she knew. Given her hurried pace, she made it to the shuttle bay in record time and set herself up in the corner. She began checking over the ID's and the program to upload them.

The rhythmic clack of heels on the deck plating was as regular as a metronome. You can take the Marine out of her uniform, but you can never take the woman out of the Marines.

Hair a colour between light brown, and a dirty blonde done up in a style that would have pleased her mother, it went with the gold dress that seemed to have almost a matte finish to it.

The heels, an exact duplicate to the ones that Mina had replicated for her, had had a minor alteration. The only concession to function and practicality. She had considered a concealed blade, but on consideration, it would have been too hard to explain if discovered.

Finding her impromptu fashion designer already there, Brenda gave a slow twirl, the slits in the dress giving view to her toned legs.

"Do I scrub up nicely?" She enquired, the Scottish brogue that she spent every hour trying to suppress was now out in full.

Mina looked her up and down as she twirled, evaluating the look, then nodded, "It'll do." She reached out and picked a PADD up off the console and handed it to Brenda. It was a small civilian version that looked like it belonged to someone well-used to expensive things, "This contains our invitations to the event, wholly false mind you, but once you present it to whoever is questioning the validity, it'll add ours to the list when they scroll through it a second time." Her voice had changed back to the English lilt that she'd had during the briefing and was most definitely from someone snotty who believed themselves to be above everyone else. OF course, she knew what the distraction to upload actual IDs would be, but wasn't about to tell anyone else. Genuine reactions were so much better than rehearsed ones.

Brenda looked over the contents of the document. The plan seemed straight forward enough. "Out of curiosity." She began, managing to keep the edge out of her voice. 'It'll do, my ass.' "How far afield is the guest list to this soiree? Are we talking only locals on the who's-who directory, or from all over?"

"If it's a local who's-who, it would be a very small gathering indeed." Mina commented, "When it comes to fine art, especially selling fine art, you want to bring in as large a group as possible of the most affluent connoisseurs or even just most wealthy people around. Most of the time, the host will go through a local firm to send out invitations to their curated list for such an occasion, a few will personally send them out, but not this party. Nilsson, Gr'ant and Velzien was contracted to send invitations."

"This will not be a small gathering," the voice of Sara Archer replied, stepping though the ship's entry hatch. Like the others, the special agent dressed for the occasion. Her auburn hair was braided into a crown. The rest of her was covered by shimmery black gown, the halter around her neck ensuring that her arms were completely free and not preoccupied with holding up the rest of her dress. It was clear looking at her arms that the woman was well toned. The lower half of her dress extended nearly to the floor, a slit up the side rising to her hip ensured that she could still maintain a full range of motion if necessary. She too wore a pair of strappy heels. Perhaps they were not as tactically sound as other footwear, but combat boots would have looked a little out of place. The intention, of course, was to blend in. "But that can work in our favor. The more people there, the easier it will be for us to disappear into a crowd. And the less chance of Artrex realizing that we're not supposed to be there. Is everyone ready to go?"

Calliope nodded from her spot. "I can finish the upload program en route." She tucked a Tricorder shaped as a compact into her clutch. "We can go over ID's in the shuttle."

"Well, if we're all here and we're all ready, I suggest we get this show started," Felicie stated as she headed toward the shuttle. "No point sitting around waiting." Though spoken with confidence, there was an edge of uncertainty to her words which she covered with a quick grin. "I don't know about you lot, but I am looking forward to a shot of Romulan Ale."

---

Commander Sara Archer
Special Agent
Starfleet Intelligence

Lt. Commander Felicie Rivero
Chief of Security
Starbase 332

Captain Brenda Sinclair
Company Commander
F "Fox" Company, 14th Battalion

Lieutenant JG Mina Altair
Investigator
Starfleet Internal Affairs

Ensign Calliope Bradshaw
Computer Systems Specialist
Starbase 332