SS FOURCADE, DMZ — Maquis cell Skarbek stole a Cardassian vessel from Ve’ot Tok while imprisoned members of the cell escaped prison before imminent death.
Our war correspondence office received details regarding the daring rescue of the imprisoned Skarbek members. Upon learning the location of the drifting Cardassian prison, the Maquis cell created a distraction by instigating an enormous explosion at the junkyard, unwittingly setting the wasteland on fire. The resistance fighters stole an abandoned Cardassian tow barge used to manoeuvre broken vessels in space, the commandeered CUV Malyn Ocett, which could take them deep into Cardassian space without drawing unwanted attention.
Reporters retrieved detailed information about what happened after the Skarbek members fled the first part of the prison. It revealed the Cardassian prison to be not a prison at all, but a laboratory for science experiments, set in one large holodeck onboard a freighter. Different scenarios tested small groups of prisoners on their endurance and will to survive, including pitting them against one another, tracking goods shortages, and in the end, filling the prison with a poisonous gas, designed to see how long the prisoners would survive.
Cardassian scientists also used mind-erasing techniques so they could experiment on certain prisoners repeatedly without their prior knowledge. Once the captives became obsolete, a baryon sweep would clear the entire ship of all organic material, leaving the smallest possible trace of what happened there.
Discovering some of the Skarbek crew had escaped the illusion of the holodeck and were trying to find a way out of their predicament, the scientists and military personnel abandoned the freighter, but not before initiating another baryon sweep to wipe out any remaining souls behind, effectively removing the evidence of their war crimes.
The stolen Venca-class ship, led by an agent known only as Papa Bear, leader of the Skarbek cell, arrived at the prison ship just in time. They barely got their own people on board when the USS McCool, a Starfleet vessel, arrived to take control of the situation. Without communication exchanged between the two vessels, the McCool began their investigation and evacuation, while the CUV Malyn Ocett slipped away.
“I have no idea why the Feds didn’t come after us,” exclaimed Birdy, who used an alias when interviewed. “Maybe they want to use the freighter for their own purposes.”
Skarbek members were unavailable for any comment during the time of publication, as they held a remembrance ceremony at Peshkova Colony for those lost during their endeavour.
Written by Samira Neathler
