USS Veritas Crew Members Attacked by Maquis Reborn

CAIT SPACEDOCK — While travelling aboard a civilian craft en route from Betazed to Cait, a group of Starfleet officers assigned to the USS Veritas were attacked by the extremist group known as the Maquis Reborn.
The attack occurred while many members of the Veritas crew were on extended shore leave following the ship’s deadly encounter with the ancient artificial intelligence device known as Sentinel. Ensigns Andy Monroe, Addison MacKenzie, and Xerix, as well as Lieutenant JG Wil Ukinix were aboard a small civilian ship near Betazed when a freighter ambushed their craft and locked onto it with a tractor beam. Xerix was badly wounded in the initial assault.
Only the quick, unorthodox use of a legally dubious cloaking device allowed the ship to escape from the tractor beam before the freighter self-destructed. The timely arrival of the USS Fesoan allowed for the ship and crew to receive adequate treatment and repairs before continuing to their rendezvous with Veritas.
“It was a nerve-wracking experience. At first, we thought it might be pirates, though they don’t normally operate in this area of space. When we discovered who it was, we were all very nervous,” said Ukinix. “Thanks to our Starfleet training, my fellow officers and I were able to neutralize the threat. Their conduct was exemplary.”
Other members of the Veritas crew also encountered trouble while on leave. Unconfirmed reports suggest that Lieutenant JG Geoffrey Teller and Captain Roshanara Rahman were captured and held by pirates while travelling to Esperance for an engineering conference.
Meanwhile, the Veritas itself received encrypted orders from Starfleet Command, via the Daystrom Institute. Though the exact nature of those orders remains classified, confirmed reports indicate that the ship encountered a potentially dangerous alien artefact and received orders to investigate it.
Despite these difficulties, the ship and its crew reunited at Cait Spacedock, where they prepared for festivities honouring the promotion of the ship’s former first officer, Mei’konda, who was recently elevated to the rank of Captain, and will be serving as the commanding officer of the USS Astraeus.
 
Written by Evan Delano