THE RESCUE

EPISODE 3

Having safely returned from their mission to the Gamma Quadrant, the crew of the USS Highlander take a well deserved break on Deep Space Nine, while Commander Inez James takes her own away mission for Doctor Julian Bashir. Transporting a dying symbiont to the Trill Homeworld, where it will be transplanted into a new host. With an uneventful journey to Trill and a successful operation, Commander James, her Bajoran pilot and the new host, Lt. Dvorak Aiz, a Starfleet Officer head back to DS 9. Half way back, the runabout is caught in a tractor beam, and the ship and crew are locked in an empty cargo bay. Upon further examination, the team realise that they have been captured by the Saesneg. The Saesneg are a devout culture, with warp capability, who have been warring with their nearest neighbour the Cymraeg for over the last thousand years.

Intercepting a distress beacon from the runabout, the crew of the USS Highlander, under Captain Connare James, immediately depart DS 9 in search of their missing Chief Medical Officer, and the Captain's wife. Arriving at the last known co-ordinates of the runabout, the Highlander finds it's self deep within Saesneg space and confronted with a fleet of Saesneg warships. While Captain James attempts a diplomatic resolve, the crew of the Highlander scan the remainder of the system, in the hope of finding both the runabout and the Doctor. Tracking the runabout's warp signature, they trace the vessel to a cargo bay on one of the Saesneg warships. With diplomatic endeavours failing, the crew devise a plan to retake the runabout without invoking the Prime Directive.

Meanwhile, Commander James and her team, have been abandoned on the southern continent of the Saesneg Homeworld. Whilst trying to find a way to escape the planet, the team is brutally attacked and thrown into prison cell. Not long after, Commander James falls into a coma from her critical head wounds. Back on the Highlander, the Captain orders the starship to leave the system, in full view of the enemy warships. Once out of their limited sensor range, the Highlander re enters Saesneg space under cover of cloak. Having reacquired the Saesneg vessel, the Highlander beams an away team, under command of Captain James, a board. Whilst Commander Crusher, Lt. Lang and Lt.Jg. Stewart set about retaking the Runabout, Captain James, with Lt. McKnight and Lt. Laiz, make their way to the ship's computer core to find any relevant information on the where abouts of the Chief Medical Officer and her team.

As the Captain and Lt. McKnight download the information from the core, Lt. Laiz guards the entrance, when the Saesneg vessel is rocked, as a fleet of Cymraeg warships engage their enemy. With communications down, the USS Highlander, under command of Lt. Commander Mardock, breaks away from the Saesneg fleet, and heads off to safety. Still inside the Computer core, the Captain and his team, are attacked as a patrol of Saesneg warriors storm the room. Pinned down and with the Captain seriously wounded, the team activate an emergency beam out to the runabout in the Cargo bay. With only moments, until another patrol arrives at the Cargo Bay, Lt. Stewart bypasses the main computer, and releases the Cargo Bay doors. Exiting the Saesneg warship under cover fire from the recently return Highlander, both vessels leave the ensuing battle between the two races, and warp out of Saesneg space.

Shortly after, the Highlander discovers from the downloaded information, that Commander James and her team is being held in a containment cell on the southern continent of the Saesneg Homeworld. Lt. Laiz also finds a disturbing fact. An organisation inside the Federation, has been developing droids and infiltrating them inside the Saesneg populous. These droids are undetectable as they have the ability to take on the appearance of any culture they come in contact with. Under the command of Commander Adrian Crusher, another away team is launched to return Commander James and her team. Beaming down to the co-ordinates of the containment cell, the away team encounter two of the droids on guard outside the Doctor's cell. After removing the droids, using a holo-disruptor, and good old fashion phaser fire, the away team rescue the Doctor and her team and beam back up to the runabout orbiting the Planet's surface. With the team all safe aboard, the runabout warps out to meet up with the Highlander waiting in Federation Space.