As one of the closest capital ships to the sudden intrusion by the unknowns, the CMV Triumphant had an obligation to respond. Whatever it was out there, the frigate screen was unlikely to be able to hold it for any length on time without heavier support. As the battlecruiser's business end rotated through the emptiness of space to line up with the contact mass Commander Azka Valinto, the ship's skipper and not quite Captain, made her way from the Command Bridge's access door to the aptly named 'Hot Seat', settling herself into the chair and quickly bringing up her own personal displays.<br/><br/>"XO, can you tell my exactly why I had to be called away from the conference?" Short and to the point, as was expected from a ship's captain in what could potentially become a combat situation. The XO himself, a Terran by the name of Seven-Three, was already prepared for the question.<br/><br/>"Unknown contacts, ma'am, along the two-oh-one bearing at relative level with us. The frigate cordon has already moved into position and I ordered the Triumphant to Condition Two and pointed us straight at the contacts. No word yet as to their disposition." The skipper nodded in time with the Terran's almost grating tone, her crest flexing subconsciously with irritation at the sound.<br/><br/>"Thank you, Mr Seven-Three. Weapons, give me shadow vectors on the hostiles for the accelerator. Ops, standby to bring the ship the Condition One. Comms, hail those frigates and ask if they need any assistance. It wouldn't do to steal good kills without permission." The bridge crew jumped to it, making adjustments and typing commands as necessary. Right up until the Comms officer glanced up and cleared his throat.<br/><br/>"Ma'am, the frigates have hailed us first. Contacts confirmed as Dominion vessels and we are not to engage." The collective feeling of relief that they hadn't had to fight and frustration for not being allowed to test themselves permeated the small space. Letting out a frustrated breath, Valinto considered her next words.<br/><br/>"Okay then. XO, sound the all clear. Ops, take us down to Condition Four. No sense in running a hot reactor forever. Weapons, scrub those vectors. Nav, get us back in the defensive patter will you." A chorus of aye, aye's and yes ma'am's sounded out as the officers got back into the routine.<br/><br/>Standing again, the Commander made her way through the bridge doors for the second time in as many minutes.<br/><br/>"XO, you have the bridge. Notify me of any changes."<br/><br/>Now back in the ship's conference room, settling into the projection field once more, she was practically seething, burning in her own damned anger at the intrusion and subsequent stand down. The very least the Dominion bastards could have done was let them know they had ships coming. Typical.<br/><br/>The shapes of the assembled diplomats and captains rematerialised in front of her, looking for all the damned galaxy like they hadn't been worried at all. This lot could win awards with that kind of skill. The lead diplomat for the Confederacy was the first to speak.<br/><br/>"Well Commander? Is the situation resolved?" She didn't know why, but this Terran's voice annoyed her more than all the others she'd heard.<br/><br/>"To the best of my knowledge the situation never happened. No shots were fired, at the very least. All I know is that the ships are Dominion vessels, which we did not know were approaching." The last was a direct barb aimed at the Dominion representatives.<br/><br/>"As for the rest, I believe that would be better explained by Commander Aresh. He was closer than I was to them, and was the one to issue the stand down. He will be best placed to explain."