'Into the Breach Once More Dear Friends.' Sparrow was the last to arrive in the mess hall. He had a skill for arriving moments after the last of his agents had. Maybe it was through the use of the ship's internal sensors, or maybe it was just good timing. In any case, when he stepped through the door all were present and accounted for. Immediately, Marcus noted AMIS standing to one side of the room. He gave a nod to the AI as he headed for the front of the room. It wasn't until AMIS had been replaced by DTIS that he had realized how much he missed the former. "Alright people," Sparrow started, laying the single PADD he had carried with him on the table he was now using as a lectern. "Let's get focused." Those agents who had been conversing amongst themselves quieted down. The others turned their gaze to where Sparrow stood. "This assignment is going to be a difficult one," he continued now that he had everyone's undivided attention. "No doubt, you are all aware of the Jem'Hadar. What you may not know however is that the Federation has recently been experimenting in turning them into productive members of society." "Productive members of society?" Ceranski snorted. "Yes," Sparrow replied. "By breaking their dependence on Ketracell White and removing their hostile appearance, scientists have then been able to subject them to additional mental conditioning to counteract the programming given to them by the Founders. At least, this was the intention." Activating a file on the PADD, Marcus then stepped aside so all could get a better view of the screen mounted into the bulkhead behind him. "A few weeks ago the Marine Corps dispatched a unit to investigate the Einhoften facility on Sidos." As he spoke, an image of the planet in question appeared. The location of the facility was immediately highlighted and a smaller of image of the surrounding area appeared. "They were systematically wiped out." "Did they know what they were going into?" Nuez asked. "No," Sparrow replied. "The project, codenamed 'Marduk', was classified compartmentalized. Only those absolutely requiring knowledge were given access." An eerie silence settled over the room for a moment. The Marines weren't the Section, but that didn't mean they weren't good at what they did. In fact, the Section often found themselves recruiting Marines due to their combat experience. That a whole unit of them had been cut down as if they were stocks of wheat was something of a surprise. "To make matters worse, those in Starfleet Command who had knowledge of this project have mobilized further assets to attempt to cover up this project and its subsequent failure." Marcus tapped at his PADD again, and glanced over his shoulder to see the image of the planet minimize to be replaced by the image of the Katana class USS Chimera. "The SSF has been ordered to dispatch a ship to the facility to investigate. They should have reached orbit by now." "So if the SSF is investigating, what are we going to be doing?" It was Walters that spoke up this time. "As is no doubt obvious, this type of project would receive a great deal of resistance from the public. Were the general populace to find out Jem'Hadar were being conditioned to be released into society, there would be a massive outcry. It should also be obvious that Starfleet Command and the Federation Council don't have the balls to start up a project like this of their own accord. This is where we come in..." Again, touching his PADD, he watched the image of the Chimera shrink down and join the image of Sidos in the bottom right corner. This time, it was replaced by the image of a man who looked to be in his late thirties. His hairline was starting to recede and his skin tone was a dark mocha. Overall, he looked like your regular middle management professional. "This is Alex Murphy, Special Agent. He is responsible for the initiation of the Marduk project. His cell facilitated the purchase of the research material from the Cardassians after the Dominion war. They then managed to established the Einhoften facility under the guise of a xeno-zoological research complex in a quite corner of the Federation. Up until now, the Section has condoned their research." Sparrow paused here a second. "However, roughly a month ago we stopped receiving regular reports from the facility. It was at this time that we also lost contact with Alex Murphy and his cell." "Would it not be logical to assume that they were at Einhoften, and have somehow become caught up in the events there." Nerik said. "No," Marcus replied. "The Einhoften facility was established at arms length so as to keep even those conducting the research unaware of their true employer. It is more likely that Murphy is somewhere at large; possibly facilitating the events to execute some plan. "So the task falls to us to find Murphy and his agents, and neutralize them," Sparrow said. His tone left little room to interpret what he was saying. They were to find and kill Murphy's cell. "Nuez, I want you to attempt to access the SSF networks and find out what they know about the situation. They know less then us, that's for sure, but I want to know just how much they know about this whole thing," Marcus then went on, seeing the old man nod. "AMIS, I want you to try and find the last known location of Murphy's cell. Set a course at maximum warp once you've found it." "Of course," the AI said, giving that characteristic tick of his. "Ceranski, I want you and Arlington to start going over some simulations for capturing our targets. They are Section trained, so they aren't going to come in easily. If anything, they are going to put up as much of a fight as possible." "I'll see what we can do," Thaddeus said, glancing to the quiet and enigmatic Arlington. "Walters," Sparrow said, nodding after Ceranski's words. "I want you to work on developing some sort of neuro-comm virus. We might be able to gain an edge if we are able to disrupt their communications." "That'll be a tough one... but I think I'm up for the challenge," Nathan replied. "Nerik, Aramaki; see what you can find out about Marduk itself. The facility has been in operation for quite some time now, so who knows how many Jem'Hadar have actually been processed and released. Or how far they've gotten." "Of course," the Vulcan said for the both of them. "Good. We don't have a lot of time here people. The SSF are a keen bunch, and exceptionally well trained. Its going to be hard keeping in front of them, so get to work." And with that, Sparrow ended the briefing. As the agents started to rise and trickle out of the room, Sparrow managed to catch Nerik before he could slip away. "Nerik... I would like to have a word with you, in my office." <<As this is a Fleet plot, some things have already been established by the folks SIMming at the Subfleet level, and the Chimera. I'll get a synopsis of those details out to you all tomorrow. If you guys need any help with things though, don't hesitate to drop me a line. And you up for a JL Nerik? >;)>> Special Agent Marcus Sparrow Agent in Charge Section 31: Firehawk -- Sua Sponte