Backup Planning

Posted on Sat Jun 6th, 2026 @ 3:10am by Lieutenant Commander Hadir Prenar & Lieutenant Junior Grade Tara Marsh
Edited on on Sat Jun 6th, 2026 @ 11:58am

1,164 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Mini Mission-Dark Lilies

Tara watched as Lily left. She knew that Lily was not capable of pulling off this plan. She was a poor actor at best. They had to come up with another plan when the first most likely inevitably failed. When Tara was convinced that Lily was out of the room and out of earshot, she looked at Hadir and said, "You do realize that the plan you just announced is going to fail. We need at least one backup plan."

"Why exactly is this plan going to fail?" Hadir knew that Lily, and Tara for that matter were not intelligence operatives. They did not know the intricacies of undercover work. However, that was the beauty of his plan. It did not rely on their skills, it relied on the opponent's stupidity.

"I adore Lily, but she's a terrible actress," Tara explained. "The only thing worse than her is the numskull that wants to make her into his mindless concubine."

"Need I remind you that you were the one who did not pick up on myself acting as your boyfriend for this operation. Additionally, if we do our jobs correctly then Lily will not need to act. It is simple, we will need to guide the conversation so that the mark reveals their plan, then we strike. If that fails then we simply get them to reveal any crime that we can make an arrest on." Hadir leaned back in his chair and tented his fingers. It was an affectation that he did. On a previous assignment a friend pointed out that fictional supervillains had a tendency to do that. Despite this he did it anyway.

"I picked up on it. I was just slow on the uptake because I was concentrating on Lily." Tara shrugged. "Nonetheless, even with that I'm a much better actress than Lily." She sighed. "So, the entire plan is to rely on hubris?"

"To sum it up, yes. We Cardassians can smell hubris, like sharks smell blood." Hadir was confident that the plan would work. However, he did see the prudence in having a backup plan. He just did not like the way Tara had approached the idea. "While talking with him we need to get him to admit to something, anything. Then we make the arrest and get the rest later. If that fails we simply spend enough time with him until he slips up."

"Why not try to get him to admit more in the field? Make him think we're sympathetic and then get it all before we lock him up. He might clam up when we bring him in."

"The more he admits to the better off we will be. We can't follow him too much as this is isn't an official Starfleet operation. We do not want to go on the books for this. There would be too many hoops to jump through. But the more we get him to talk the better off we will be." Hadir smiled, the wheels turned in his head. There were a number of ideas. He just had to develop one into a full plan.

"So, I suppose that my wrestling him to the ground, making him beg for mercy and forgiveness, while singing a sea shanty is right out, then?" Tara asked with a small giggle and a glint in her eyes. "Nothing would make me happier. He's just so sleezy!"

"If he is that sleazy then he would enjoy being wrestled to the ground and being made to beg for mercy." Hadir spoke with that dry wit that Cardassians were known for. The kind where you did not know if it were a joke or not. He moved some PADDs around on his desk then looked up and continued. "Although, the singing may be torture. Coming from me that is saying something."

"He's not THAT kind of sleazy," Tara replied. "He's controlling and likes everyone under his thumb. He thinks he's the greatest thing since sliced bread." She then laughed. "I promise, I will keep my singing to a bare minimum. I have no interest in breaking anyone's ear drums, except his."

She then gave Hadir the side eye. "Though, if you know that about my singing, I do hope that you're not spying on me in the sonic shower...."

"Something you will learn about me my dear is that I am Cardassian. I do not need to spy on your shower to learn anything. I simply know it already." Fact was Hadir knew the statistics on people. That most people who were talented in some way exercised that talent regularly. Since Tara did not sing for a living, Hadir inferred that she must sing privately and therefore did not believe herself to be good at it.

"You keep on believing that, boyfriend," she replied cheekily. "However, I think I probably gave something away that you just took an inference from and I stupidly gave you more information." She wrinkled her nose. "Maybe I'll just take you into the sonic shower and you can hear for yourself. Then again, you might not be hearing a thing after that experience."

Hadir took a mental note to refer Tara to the Counselor. There definitely seemed to be something wrong with her. "We Cardassians do not shower, we bathe. It is part of our reptilian ways. There is simply nothing like the Cardassian mud baths. But, that is something for another time. For now we are going to have make due with preparing for the mission ahead."

Tara sighed. In her gut, her very instincts, she knew that something more should be done. However, she could not figure out what yet. Well, she'd likely improvise when the time came. She was best at that, regardless. "If you say so, Chief."

"Tara, much of what we do is, as human's put it, fly by the seat of our pants. There is only so much planning that can be done. Additionally, we are not entirely sure what we need to plan for. After all we are going into this as a favor to Lily." Hadir spoke with the tone and look of someone who knew precisely what he spoke about.

"Well, that's my strength," Tara informed Hadir. "I just instinctively know what to do when the time comes. I just wish that in this case, we had something better than Lily's acting skills."

"To each their strengths." Hadir said with a smile. "Go prepare. When Lily is ready we will set out.

"Prepare to be your girlfriend?" Tara asked. "Now you're in trouble.... I'm not really certain how to do my hair or dress for this, but hey, you chose me!" She laughed heartily as she left Hadir's office. Playing this role would not be difficult. She liked Hadir. He seemed like a decent enough guy, despite thinking super highly of himself.

Lieutenant Commander Hadir Prenar
Chief of Tactical Operations
USS Orcrist

Lieutenant Junior Grade Tara Marsh
Assistant Chief Security Officer
USS Orcrist

 

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