Mission Briefing

Posted on Tue Feb 1st, 2022 @ 2:13pm by Fleet Admiral Mike K`Wor Bremer & Captain Paul MacLeod & Commander Leksander Draven & Commander Jonathan Roebuck IV & Lieutenant K`Wor & Ensign Luke Conway & Tom Vercetti & First Ramata`tar & Admiral Deela T'Lar & Colonel Ezekiel Bagwell & Commander Namia Grian & Lieutenant Commander Anna Bagwell & Lieutenant Commander Nicholas Coleman & Lieutenant Timothy O’Riley & Lieutenant JG Miaxi Etaalu & Lieutenant Percy McWire

3,597 words; about a 18 minute read

Mission: Episode 112 - A Trip to Remember
Location: Starbase 400 -Tactical Operations
Timeline: MD1, 1000hrs

ON:

Commander Coleman had just gotten back into his office when he heard over the COMMs, “COMMANDER COLEMAN TO TACTICAL OPERATIONS. COMMANDER COLEMAN TO TACTICAL OPERATIONS.”

Coleman let out a small chuckle as he walked over to the replicator in his office. Before he began the trek to tactical operations, he wanted to get some caffeine into his system. As he walked over to the replicator, he said, “Jamaican Coffee, double strong and double sweet.” The replicator swirled to life and gave him exactly what he needed.

He took it off the replicator pad as soon as it was completed and headed out of his office to the nearest turbolift. The doors opened for him, and as he walked in, Coleman said, “Tactical Operations, direct route.”

It took only seconds to the deck with tactical operations on it. As the doors opened, Coleman headed over to Tactical Ops and saw that it was empty for the moment. So, he took a seat and waited for others to join him.

Miaxi slipped into Tactical Operations. She had been surprised when the summons had come over the comm, but she wasn’t exactly in a position to ask questions, so she made sure Xalanth was aware that she wasn’t going to be in the security office and headed up.

She was surprised to find the place almost deserted, recognizing the lone occupant by his picture alone. “Hello, Commander,” she said as she took her seat, wondering what this was about.

While in engineering doing some standard lvl3 maintenance check on the station systems, Percy got the orders to head to tactical operations. He finished his check, then left engineering and headed to the nearest lift.

He arrived and stepped out and headed straight to Tactical Operations. He saw Commander Coleman and Lt. Miaxi had been summoned too as he entered.

“Hello Commander, hello Lieutenant, “Percy said and went over to an empty seat and sat down. He wondered what this meeting was all about.

Miaxi smiled at him. “Hello, Ensign.” She replied.

Draven arrived, walked to the main view’s panel, tapped in a few commands, and then waited for the Fleet Admiral and everyone else to arrive.

After handing over the Buccaneer’s bridge to her trusted XO, Commander Grian headed straight for the briefing. On route, she pondered what it could be about. Arriving, she noticed a few had taken their seats but based on the empty chairs, there were more to come. She nodded to those already assembled. She wasn’t in a talkative mood after the rather difficult conversation she had just endured with her father via subspace only an hour earlier. She took a seat.

Deela’s shift had just begun when she got the summons. She hadn’t talked to Bremer yet, so she was pretty much in the dark. She said her goodbyes to the kids and walked to Tactical Ops. When she walked in, she glanced around the room to see who was there, “Good morning, everyone.” She took a seat.

Ezekiel made his way into tactical operations. He wondered what mission the Admiral had for his team this time? Another recon mission? Patrol Mission? A light exploration mission? He was not sure, but he wanted to find out. He took a seat near Admiral T’Lar.

K’Wor and Conway arrived within minutes of each other. They gave each other an uneasy nod as they looked around. K’Wor realized this was a mission briefing, while Conway was unsure. After the Pegasus’s shakedown cruise months before, this would be his first official mission as a member of Starbase 400.

Tim received the summons as he was unpacking his things. He had taken an extended leave on Betazed with his grandmother. He hadn’t wanted to, but Starfleet Medical had ordered him to take time off. Tim arrived at tactical a short time later and looked around; smiling as he took a seat, he said, “Hello Commander, happy to be back on board. Being on medical leave drove me crazy.”

Tom walked into the room and looked around. ‘What the hell?’ he thought to himself. Why would they call him to a Starfleet meeting? ‘This better be good,’ he thought as he stood near the back.

In a very uncharacteristic way, the only seat left empty was Xalanths. Just as people would have started worrying, the lizard stepped through the doors. He was still wearing the EVA undersuit, which was still visible beneath his collar. “Sorry I’m late, we have an ongoing situation on the seas of shnara. Humanoid remains confirmed,” he said apologetically as he took a seat.

Mike arrived in Tactical Operation. Mike handed a PADD to Xanath. “This came in for you. Take Commander Croesus with you.”

Xanath looked at the PADD, nodded, stood, and left.

Mike then looked around the room.

“Thank you all for coming. We’ve received a mission request of an unusual and delicate matter.” Mike nodded to Draven, who typed in commands, and the big wall display lit up with a map of the area The Artifact was in. Images of The Artifact itself then appeared to one side of the map.

“This is known as The Artifact. As you can tell, it’s what’s left of a Borg Cube. The Romulans managed to neutralize it and disconnected the drones from the hive. We’re not sure when that happened. With the peace treaty in full effect now, the Federation has negotiated scientific access on a civilian level. The Romulan military is pulling out, so this will be a fully civilian operation. However, Starfleet wants The Artifact inspected and scanned. They also want us to make sure the Romulan military has withdrawn too. We’re to inspect it for safety, meet with the liberated Borg drone known as Hugh, and set up a schedule for civilian scientists to arrive from the Federation. We’ll need to do medical checks on the former drones. Engineering will need to verify the stability of the Cube. Security will need to sweep the area the civilians are working to ensure nothing is left active by the Borg OR the Romulans. The Pegasus and the Endeavour will be going. Questions?” Mike looked around the room.

“Yeah, why am I here?” Tom asked.

Mike looked at Tom, “I’d like you and your ship to go too. The Romulans have agreed to a direct path for transports and us. Starbase 718 passed Free Cloud in the Fenris Rangers area to The Artifact. I want you to be the face for the civilians, see if anything is needed, and...”

“...and stop at Free Cloud to do a little business. Got it.” Tom replied with a smile. He already had business with someone who operated out of Free Cloud, but this now gave him a free pass in and out of the Ranger’s area.

Mike looked around, “Anyone else?”

“Sir, Do we have any set security stroke tactical protocols for this kind of survey? This is, after all, albeit neutralized, a Borg cube. “Grian enquired.

“Right now, we’ll follow the protocols provided to us by the Romulan civilian administration and the liberated Borg. That said, that’s where our security comes into play. I want a full review of those protocols and recommendations to improve them. I also want a full tactical analysis of the Cube and recommendations for Starfleet’s response.” Bremer replied.

Coleman chimed in and asked, “Will Seven of Nine be joining us on this mission as well?”

“No. Seven left Starfleet over ten years ago. Last I heard, she was a member of the Fenris Rangers, but she hasn’t responded to any Starfleet communications since leaving.” Mike replied.

Percy wondered and asked, “What is Starfleet trying to achieve in the long run? “

Mike nodded; he kind of wondered the same. “Obviously, they want to help the liberated Borg and learn what they can from the ship itself. I also believe this is a baby step toward peace with the Romulans too. Beyond that, I don’t know.”

Miaxi’s question, or close enough to what she had thought to ask, had been asked by the Commander in the red uniform. She hadn’t met the woman, but that could be said about most people in the room. As the other questions came, she decided to sit back and see what Bremer had to say. At the very least, this was going to be an interesting mission.

“Anyone else?” Mike asked as he looked around.

Tim looked around before responding, “I’m just getting back from medical leave; what can I do.”

Mike looked over, “Operations and Engineering personnel, I want to make sure that Cube is in good shape structurally and conditions are safe for Federation citizens. Also, see what supplies they may need. I’m sure they’ve been doing without due to the recent war.” Mike paused a moment, then added, “And welcome back, O’Riley, glad to have you back.”

Lieutenant T’se arrived seconds before Admiral Bremer entered to start the mission briefing. She stood near the back of the room, hands clasped behind her back with fingers interlaced while listening intently to the Admiral’s description of The Artifact and the mission parameters. The Romulan military pulling out of the neutralized Borg cube was intriguing, in-of-itself. The military seemed curious to turn over something monumental to the civilian sector without retaining a semblance of oversight. That said, T’se was not a member of Starbase 400’s security, intelligence, or marine detachments - such departments were in a better position to ask questions related to expedition safety versus her as an engineer.

T’se cleared her throat when the Admiral prompted the meeting’s attendee’s for additional questions, “Admiral,” her tone of voice steady albeit soft, “It is logical to assume the Romulan’s completed comprehensive scans of The Artifact after neutralizing the threat. It would be of help if the Romulan military were to share this data with ourselves and the civilian teams.” She added, “It may aid in expediting our determination of the cube’s structural integrity and areas of viability or concern.” T’se had served as a structural and environmental specialist on board the USS Diligent after graduating from the academy. It was a field of engineering she was extensively familiar with, and T’se had already determined she would request Commander Solomon to include her with one of the first away teams to capitalize on this experience.

“We’ve asked for all technical data from the Romulan Military, but they have been less than forthcoming. The civilian team aboard the ship has offered to share their data when we arrive.” Mike replied. “I don’t expect there to be an issue, but better safe than sorry.”

“Sir, if they have more detailed scans of the Artifact that they’d be willing to share beforehand, especially of the liberated Borg themselves, I can have the Science and Medical teams look them over before we head out. That way, we can benefit the Romulans once we arrive. Is there any way to check on that, sir?” Coleman asked, hearing the newcomer’s question, realizing it could be helpful to have any sort of data before they head out.

“We’ve asked, they refuse to provide us with any data until we arrive. We have little data from long-range intelligence scans, but residual radiation from the Hobus and Romulus systems is interfering.” Mike replied.

No data until they arrived? Miaxi didn’t like that, but there was precious little she could do about it. She would be pouring over the Starfleet protocols and looking for anything she could find to improve them.

The Romulan’s resistance to collaborating indicated the species’ inherent egocentric and xenophobic traditionalism that perhaps transcended any degree of comprehensible arrogance. Still, they were withdrawing to share in the scientific and technological study of the universes’ greatest threats--the Borg--so perhaps the Romulans weren’t as put off by inviting the outside cooperation of Federation experts. T’se continued to wonder, though, why the military would withdraw from something of tremendous value. She breathed deep, compartmentalizing the intrigue for now before casting a single nod to Admiral Bremer in appreciation of his response.

Mike looked over at Bagwell and Grian, “I’m sure you want to know why you’re both here too. I’d like you to take your ships into the Fenris Ranger territory, meet with their leaders, and let them know we’ll be sending civilian ships into the area through their territory to The Artifact soon. We need to work out approved corridors for the transports and make sure all other cooperative protocols between Starfleet and the Rangers are still in play.”

Ezekiel just grinned for the moment, and he knew what the Admiral was asking. But that’s why he was asking Ezekiel and Grian’s team to lead the way. The head of Special operations Beta and the head of strategic operations would make good dignitaries for the Fenris Rangers to take seriously and credible. “We need a contact to make contact go smoothly. I have no idea where to find the headquarters or a political base of strategic importance.” Ezekiel pointed out before the Admiral could respond, it sounded like Grain had an answer.

“Sir, if I am not mistaken, 7 of 9 is still active as a Fenris Ranger in the Qiris sector, I believe. Our information is somewhat, patchy though; this may not be accurate. “Grian replied.

“I believe so.” Mike replied, “However, after events about ten years ago, she may not be as...friendly toward Starfleet as she once was.”

“Hmmm, good point. Caution is required.” Grian replied.

Mike nodded.

“Seven of Nine has worked with Starfleet before. She would be a good resource if we can find a way to contact her.” Ezekiel pointed out to the Admiral and Grain.

Anna had been summoned to the meeting, not knowing why but she had listened to the discussion and waited to hear what Admiral Bremer had her present for. Zeke hadn’t given her any indication when she’d seen him earlier that something was up, but then maybe his hands were tied.

“Anyone else with questions?” Mike asked.

“No, sir,” Ezekiel said, but thinking in his mind that he was going to attempt to locate Seven of Nine. Knowing the Fenris Rangers, she may find them.

“Admiral,” Anna spoke up. “Is there any particular orders you have for me?” She didn’t want to speak out of turn, but he would not have had her present unless there was a specific reason. The executive officer of the Falcon would have been the logical choice otherwise.

“I do have something for you,” Mike replied. “With Doctor Blair’s departure, Chief Medical Officer is a position of need, and I’d like for you to take over that role with a promotion to Lieutenant Commander.”

Anna knew her eyes widened in shock. She had not expected this, and at the same time, she was so honored that Admiral Bremer trusted and respected her to offer her the position. Her eyes went to Zeke, who was smiling and gave her that look of his that said he supported her and if she wanted the position, she better damn well take it.

“Yes, Admiral,” Anna replied. “I accept the position of Chief Medical Officer.” It was hard for her to stand there and remain calm when she really wanted to jump up and down with happiness.

Mike smiled, “Congratulations.”

After checking the time, Mike then looked around at everyone, “Alright, it’s 1025hrs now. We’ll depart tonight, about 2200hrs. We’ll slipstream from here to an area near SB74, from there to just outside SB718’s outer marker, then proceed at warp eight from there to Free Cloud, drop off our civilian passengers, then on to The Artifact. At Free Cloud, the Falcon and Buccaneer will also split off from the Pegasus and Endeavour to meet with the Ranger’s leadership. We won’t get to The Artifact until 0830hrs tomorrow.” Mike tapped a button, and the flight path appeared on the wall display behind him.

“Any other questions?” Mike asked.

Percy had one question on his mind. He did know that he would be on one of the ships mentioned in the meeting but which it might be. “Admiral Sir, which ship would you like me to be on board. Would you like me on the Pegasus or the Endeavour? “

Mike thought a moment, “Since Lieutenant T’se will be aboard the Endeavour, you’ll go aboard the Pegasus.”

“Thank you, sir,” Percy said

Mike looked around again when no one else spoke up, and he closed the meeting. “We’ll depart tonight, so make any preparations you need to. Dismissed.”

Miaxi stood slowly. It looked like Xalanth would be staying here, which meant she had a lot of work ahead of her. Federation protocols to look over... possible treachery from Romulans to consider... there was going to be a lot riding on this mission. She was going to have to be on her toes.

Tim stood and headed for the door; he was happy to be back on active duty and couldn’t wait to get busy again.

Ezekiel motioned for Grian to join him as he waited for most of the officers to start leaving the meeting. “Admiral, I hate to bother you, sir. I was hoping for a moment of your time.” Ezekiel said, waiting for Admiral Bremer to respond. He was already contemplating how to ask if they could look for Seven of Nine.

Grian noticed the subtle gesture from Ezekiel and headed over to stand next to him.

After being dismissed, Percy got up from his chair, looked around the room, and left.

Mike looked around since this seemed serious. Once everyone was gone, he replied, “What can I do for you?”

“I would like permission to find Seven of Nine. I believe she will be a valuable asset.” Ezekiel said, knowing that finding her would potentially cost them valuable time.

Mike paused a moment. He’d heard about what she went through before leaving Starfleet, the death of Icheb, and her feeling like Starfleet turned their backs on them both. Even if found, he wasn’t sure she would help....but it might be worth it.

“Alright, but if the trail is cold or she flat refuses, don’t waste any more time.” Mike finally replied.

As Coleman had gotten up to leave, he stood in the doorway and looked back at Ezekiel and Bremer and heard something about Seven of Nine. He looked back and said, “Would there be a way for Hugh to help potentially? Both of them are ex-Borg drones. You might want to reach out to him before you try and find Seven of Nine.”

“Hugh is at The Artifact and waiting on us to arrive,” Mike replied.

With a shrug of his shoulders, Coleman left Tactical Operations to head to the new USS Endeavor to begin mission preparations.

Grian turned to Bagwell. "I guess we will have to see if we can find her first and foremost and then see how things play out." She said.

"She would be a great assets. She knows what is going on around the artifact. Hugh according to reports, is helping the ex drones rehabilitate. He is to closely monitored. I am not sure how much help he will be. I have learned when dealing with Romulans, make sure you have all the facts going in." Ezekiel pointed out to Grian and Coleman.

"Oh I absolutely agree with you. Lets hope she is willing to help us out. " Grian replied.

Mike nodded, "Okay, let's get it done."

T’se made her exit, following the others into the corridor outside tactical operations before each attendee went their own way. She needed to inform Tuvaris of her temporary assignment onboard the Endeavour. The pair had only just arrived on Starbase 400; so recently, in fact, that they had not yet unpacked most of their personal belongings nor had the opportunity to settle. Her absence would undoubtedly afford Tuvaris the time necessary to transform their spartan quarters into something of a home away from home. Although she wished to share in this activity with her husband, duty called, and her commitment to Starfleet and the Federation came before all other desires. Besides, having the opportunity to study this Artifact in such close detail was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity she could not pass on. This mission warranted her skills and knowledge, and Tuvaris would deprive her of such an experience. She quelled an ever-so-subtle pang of guilt that he could not accompany her on this away mission, him being a civilian scientist. Perhaps there would be a future opportunity to mention his expertise and specialty to this Hugh. After meeting with Tuvaris, T’se would need to square away the duty roster and temporary assignments in engineering, leaving one more minor task for Commander Solomen to manage during her absence. She also wanted to meet with Ensign McWire to gauge his emotional wherewithal and preparedness for this mission. Although they were assigned to separate ships, he remained her responsibility. Breathing deeply, T’se entered the nearest turbolift and ordered it to the habitat section of Starbase 400.

Once everyone departed, Mike shut the displays down, then left for Ops.


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