<strong>Name/Rank:</strong>LtCmdr Torstein Harms<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Deep Space 9/Promenade > Deep Space 9 Brig<br/><strong>Activity:</strong>Things settle down, spike, and settle again; Torstein and company are escorted to station brig<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Captain Nathan Knight; Open<br/><hr/><br/>Captain Knight drew the attention of several Bajoran deputies, and while their reactions were sharp and sudden the deputies were well trained. Many had served under Odo and there were no hair-triggers among them; none turned their weapons on Captain Knight although they certainly could have easily. But their training ensured that the intervening captain did not have a weapon pointed at him - stun setting or not, the deputies were not about to point their weapons at something they were not sure they wanted to shoot.<br/><br/>"Duly noted, captain. I'll take a statement from you in a moment." The lead deputy said with a curt nod. He appreciated the captain not stepping in and taking over the situation. There was no shortage of cowboy captains out there who rode in roughshod and took control of every situation they found themselves in. The deputies proved to be competent at their jobs - they examined the fallen ruffians for weapons, seized them, and had those who were unconscious transported to sick bay along with several deputies to ensure the medical teams had adequate support to do their jobs.<br/><br/>Matters took a spike as the Cardassians and Thera Regina appeared on the scene. The wounds between the Bajorans and the Cardassians were far from healed, although certainly some steps had been taken towards reconciliation between the two peoples. There was still a lot of bad blood between them, however. And with the Cardassians working through the crowds in a rough manner, it set some on edge. For their part, the officers of the<em>Bellicose</em>promised to remain where they were while the deputies worked to calm those on the promenade. The seeming distress of Thera Regina saw the deputies on the scene call for aid and to ensure a clear path to the sick bay.<br/><br/>Torstein and his fellow were true to their word, and they stood calmly. None of them seemed overly concerned with what they had done or the consequences they would face. It was not that they imagined there would be<em>no</em>consequences, but rather, they each believed what they had done was worth it. They were at peace with whatever they might face for it.<br/><br/>The lead deputy returned to Captain Knight, and took a brief statement from the man. He smiled and nodded as they concluded. "Thank you for your cooperation, captain. Please feel free to return to your meal. I doubt we'll need anything further from you." Then the deputy turned to Torstein, Shrieve, and Tuomas. "You three, however, are going to the brig while we decide what do to with all of you."<br/><br/>The three officers cooperated, and were escorted to the station's brig. They were placed in individual cells, and then left to stew while station security investigated the matter, much as Captain Knight suggested. It was fairly cut and dried that the Starfleet officers had started the fight over what was essentially schoolyard name-calling, but on the other hand, the ruffians had managed to bring a disconcerting number of contraband weapons aboard the station. The Nausicaans, in particular, were found to have on their persons military grade disruptor pistols of Cardassian manufacture. After the end of the Dominion War and the subsequent restructure of the Cardassian government there was a large supply of Cardassian military hardware on the black markets, both from corrupt officials making quick latinum in post-war chaos and from the previous regime's policy of covertly arming colonists in the former Demilitarized Zone. But it bore further investigation, and deputies were deployed to search the cargo transport - station security now had sufficient cause to conduct a legal search.<br/><br/>While all of this happened, however, the three were cooling their heels behind force fields. Tuomas's hands had been seen to, and he was the only one to take any sort of injury in the brief fisticuffs. Torstein suspected that they were left in the cells as a token punishment for the sake of appearances more than anything else.<br/><br/>When Captain T'Len appeared, with was with the station's second-in-command. The latter was not pleased with Captain T'Len because of the scene her men caused and was very vocally expressing that displeasure to her. The station's second-in-command was in the midst of a lengthy dissertation about the specific, individual shortcomings of Torstein, Shrieve, and Tuomas as well as the general, indelible shortcomings of Starfleet officers. Captain T'Len bore it with characteristic Vulcan stoicism and a seemingly infinite depth of patience. The Vulcan looked over her senior officers with a glacial and unreadable expression, hands clasped behind her back.<br/><br/>"As fascinating as your current line of reasoning is, I must draw it to a close." The captain said at last in a cold voice devoid of emotion. The station's second-in-command sputtered to a stop, and was ready to start in again but T'Len was not having it. "Remand my men to my custody and I will discipline them per my own discretion." The frosty words were not a request and left no room for negotiation. When the other failed to immediately comply, T'Len turned an icy expression their way. Compliance quickly followed, however. Before the other could flee the room in a huff, Captain T'Len spoke further: "please inform your deputies searching the cargo trader to pay special attention to any crates marked as containing farming implements. I have a strong suspicion that they will find Cardassian military equipment instead. Contact my ship and we will furnish you with scans of similar ships we encountered in the sector that were found to be concealing illegal military equipment disguised as farming tools." It was enough to mollify the station's second-in-command, at least for the moment. Thankfully Kira Nerys was occupied with another problem, or else there might have been a catfight of truly epic proportions. The Vulcan captain turned her foreboding regard upon her officers. Her lack of expression still managed to convey her disapproval for them and their current predicament. But it would be illogical to berate them without all of the facts or offering them a chance to speak in their own defense.<br/><br/>Torstein spoke up first. "Captain, I take full responsibility for this incident. As the ranking officer it was my responsibility to keep Mr. Shrieve and Lieutenant Saint-Theodemir in line." He stood at attention within the cell.<br/><br/>Shrieve bristled, and his antennae shifted angrily. He gave a derisive snort. "Not so fast, pinkskin. Captain, I'm not going to hide behind anyone. I take full responsibility for my own actions." He said with typical Andorian passion and forcefulness.<br/><br/>Tuomas piped up next. "Me too, captain. I take responsibility for my actions."<br/><br/>There was a very mild softening to T'Len's features that would take a finely tuned tricorder or a very intimate acquaintance with the Vulcan female to notice. The three males possessed the latter. The captain was privately pleased with Torstein stepping forward to protect the other two, and with the other two for owning up and refusing to be protected.<br/><br/>"There is nothing we can say to excuse our actions, captain." Torstein carried on. "There is no logical rationale for what we did . . . no logical excuse. We could have ignored the insults to the Federation, to our uniforms, and to our ship." T'Len cocked an eyebrow, and turned to Tuomas, who was exhibiting a facial tic. "But we could not ignore the insult to you." This last had T'Len's attention turn back to Torstein, and the captain closed the gap to get as much in Torstein's face as she could given the force field between them and the disparity in their height. T'Len was significantly taller than the average for Vulcan females, standing some six feet or 180 centimeters tall, but her first officer was a genetic aberration.<br/><br/>"Do you mean to tell me, lieutenant commander, that the three of you assaulted cargo traders and disturbed the peace to defend my honour?" The captain asked in a tone of voice that should have caused a precipitous drop in the ambient room temperature.<br/><br/>"Yes ma'am." Torstein said, standing his ground. He met the captain's gaze, holding eye contact with her. The captain's expression remained stoic for several seconds, and then softened. She took a step back and shook her head.<br/><br/>"Whatever will I do with my boys?" She asked rhetorically and sentimentally, allowing feigned exasperation to seep into her voice. "You won, of course?"<br/><br/>Shrieve snorted. "Of course!" The Andorian remarked.<br/><br/>"It wasn't even close, ma'am." Tuomas chimed in.<br/><br/>T'Len graced the three officers with the upward quirk of the left corner of her mouth. Each of them felt blessed by the display. T'Len lowered the force fields and allowed the three out. "For the next three days each of you are confined to quarters except as part of your regular duty rotations and requirements." She stated, just so that each of them understood they were not getting off scot-free. "Now, tell me all about it."