A New Mission

Posted on Sun Feb 3rd, 2013 @ 9:43pm by Fleet Admiral Mike K`Wor Bremer & Commander Jonathan Roebuck IV & Fleet Admiral Sevlek & Admiral Deela T'Lar & Captain Ryan Greenwood & Commodore Andrew Clifford & Commodore Leon `Lee` Pike & Lieutenant Nick Archer

2,467 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Mission 82 - The Aggressor
Location: Starbase 400, Bremer's Office
Timeline: Five days after 'Questions'

ON:

It had been a few days since the Pegasus and Essex returned to the Station. Janice had kept to herself, staying in their Quarters and not saying much. Even her trusted aid, Sergeant Worth couldn’t get her to say much. Janice had also already cancelled her first scheduled meeting with Counselor Dallas…

Mike hadn’t met with the Counselor yet either…he’d used work as an excuse. He was sitting in his Office aboard the Station, looking over status reports. The Station was operating at peak efficiency. The damage to the Pegasus was considered to be moderate and repair crews were aboard her.

Mike then glanced at another PADD, reports from Starfleet Command. While they had been away from the Station, the Son’a had joined the Romulans, Breen, Gorn, Tholians and other as a member of the Typhon Pact. It made sense really, the Son’a were still on the Federation’s bad side, and joining the Pact gave them a better sense of security.

Mike sat the PADDs down and was about to get a drink when the comm beeped. “Admiral, you have an incoming transmission from Starfleet Command.”

Mike shook his head before replying, “Route the call in here please.”

A moment later his monitor came to life with the image of Admiral Toddman. “How are you doing Mike?”

“I’m all right. I’m still working on my report for Starfleet Command regarding the attack on the Cherokee and our time on Remu III.” Mike replied.

“Actually, I wasn’t calling about that. A situation has arisen along the Federation/Gorn border. Yesterday, a Gorn cruiser crossed the border and attacked the Starship Buraq causing heavy damage and loss of life. The ship returned to Gorn space before the closest Starship could respond. We’ve sent messages to the Gorn, but they were ignored. We even sent one though the Romulans, hoping they would pass it along to their Typhon Pact allies, but they claim the Gorn didn’t respond to them either.” Toddman explained.

“Understood. What are Starfleet Command’s orders?” Mike asked.

“They want you to send two ships to the area. Patrol the border, repel any incursion. If the Gorn want to talk, then talk, however do not provoke them.” Toddman said. “Rear Admiral Ssa`ssar is still the Gorn commander in the area, so instruct your ships to be cautious.”

Mike nodded, “I’ll have two ships depart today. It’ll take them about two days to get to the Gorn border.”

Toddman nodded, “Very good, and Mike, if you need anything, time off…”

“No.” Mike replied as he tried to smile, “Thank you but I’ll be
fine. Bremer out.”

He leaned back in his chair for a moment. He quickly made up his mind on who to send and tapped his comm-badge, “Admiral T’Lar, Captains Clifford and Greenwood, report to my office.”

VAdm. T'Lar was in her quarters trying to spend some time with her kids and Vincent. Raivyn was climbing all over her as she sat on the floor. Her comm-badge went off. She hoped that it wasn't anything important, "Admiral T'Lar here. On my way." She said her goodbyes and made her way to Bremer's office.

Andrew was in engineering of the USS Princeton. The engineers were busy installing the new computer core, but some functions still worked, communications being one of them. He listened to the message then tapped his comm badge, "Clifford here sir, on my way"

Ryan sat at his desk reviewing the latest roster for his crew. That would have to wait as the Admiral had called him for a meeting.

Everyone had taken a seat, and after a moment Bremer finally spoke.

“Thank you for coming.” He said, “A situation has arisen along the Gorn border. A Gorn cruiser crossed the border without warning and attacked the Starship Buraq. Starfleet Command wants us to send two ships to the area. Patrol the border, repel any incursions. If the Gorn want to talk, listen, but defend the border.”

Deela cringed when Mike mentioned the name "Gorn." It brought back some painful memories as they killed her former husband, Jim. "If the Gorn want to talk, listen?" She thought to herself, "They have got to be kidding."

Deela hated the Gorn and had hoped that she would never have to deal with them again. She was wrong. She tried to keep her emotions at bay but was finding it hard to do so. She sat uncomfortably in her chair.

The last encounter that Ryan had with the Gorn had almost destroyed the USS Avenger, and later resulted in the replacement of his ship. This time he hoped with some more support this would be a walk in the park.

“Captain Clifford, You’ll command the USS Kearsage.” Bremer handed him a PADD. “Here’s your crew assignment.” Mike then handed a PADD to Greenwood, “Here’s your crew assignment for the Avenger.”

Clifford’s PADD listed;
Clifford – CO
Lokran
Yamaguchi
Hurd (With one Marine Squad and GSgt Ermy)
Brislan
Maxwell
Quan

Greenwood’s PADD listed;
Greenwood – CO
Coleman
Baratan
Gillo
Renfroe
Lennox (With one Marine Squad and GSgt Agtx)
Maal

Mike then continued, “The incident occurred near Cestus III. The Gorn have a new station on their side of the border, adjacent to the Cestus system. Also, Rear Admiral Ssa`ssar is still the Gorn commander in the area. As you both know, he’s a shoot first, maybe ask questions later kind of commander. Ruthless is another term used to describe him. Keep your eyes open.”

Nodding his acceptance of his orders, he scanned the padd. He listened to the Admirals instructions, "Understood Admiral. We'll be on our way as soon as the Kearsage is ready". He looked over at Captain Greenwood with a smile, "See you at Cestus III", with that he left the office.

Ryan nodded back. He knew the Gorn were not to be taken lightly. Ryan looked at Admiral Bremer and nodded. "Admiral." He then left the office to get the Avenger ready to depart.

After Clifford and Greenwood left, Mike looked over at T’Lar, “I’m supposed to meet with Counselor Dallas in an hour, can you mind the store?” He tried to smile.

Deela wasn't exactly in a smiling mood herself, "Yes I can."

Mike and Deela walked out of his Office and into Ops.

“I was about to call you, there’s a ship approaching the Kaleb System. It’s clearly a Federation Starship, but a design I’ve never seen before.” Roebuck reported from Tactical Two.

“On screen.” Mike replied.

The screen came to life with a view of the ship. Her sleek lines were obviously a Starfleet ship. A little bigger than a Sovereign class vessel. She was new, state of the art, a beautiful ship.

“That, is the USS Gladiator.” Mike said, “An all new design, advanced weaponry, Slipstream drive, designed for Tactical Assault, a Response Command Cruiser. Question is, why is she here?”

Mike looked over at T’Lar, then back to Gillo, Lokran, Roebuck, Archer, and Yamaguchi. Everyone in Ops was watching the screen.”

“They’re requesting permission to dock.” Archer added as he looked over the Communications station.

“Permission granted.” Mike replied, “Deela and Renard, you’re with me. Let’s meet our guests.” He tapped his comm-badge as the group headed for turbolift,”Captains Pike and K’Temoc, meet me at airlock twenty-five.”

Several minutes later, Bremer, T’Lar, K’Temoc, Lokran, and Pike watched as the USS Gladiator, the first of her class, a prototype vessel, docked at Docking Bay Twenty-Five. After a few minutes, the air lock opened and out stepped a man Mike hadn’t seen in years. Once a member of the Pegasus’s crew, he was now an Admiral himself and assigned to Starfleet command.

Mike flashed a smile, “Admiral Sevlek, welcome to Starbase 400.”

Sevlek stepped off out of the docking boom's corridor and nodded, "Thank you, Admiral Bremer. It is agreeable to see you again."

Mike looked over to his Officers, “These are some of my Senior Staff. Executive Officer, Vice Admiral Deela T’Lar, Second Officer Captain Leon Pike, Chief of Security Commander Renard Lokran, and Commander of our Special Operations Team, Captain K’Temoc.”

"It is agreeable to meet you all." Sevlek looked and acknowledge each of them in turn, then spoke to T'Lar with the traditional Vulcan salute, "Dif-tur heh smusma." He ended the salute after a few seconds and continued, "It is logical to assume that you are curious as to why I am here when there is no direct mention of the Gladiator's arrival scheduled in any communique." Sevlek paused as he handed a PADD to Bremer, "These are no doubt the individuals who would be included in the briefing. The Krazzle Empire has declared war on the C'hakilian Empire and I have been ordered to Starbase 400 to oversee the Federation's interests in the conflict."

Lee nodded to the Admiral:"Greetings Admiral, very nice to meet you."

Sevlek immediately recalled Captain Pike's personnel file. It was filled with what some would call questionable actions from assignments during his intelligence career. He nodded in return, "Captain."

"So what are the Federation's interests in this conflict?" Pike asked.

"Since the onset of the war, the Krazzle have made 63 brazen ventures into the Federation's Raeyan Expansion along the border. Once such incident involved them travelling with 15 light years of Starbase 911. The commander of that station responded with standard greetings and prepared a ship to intercept the Krazzle battlecruiser. When it was made clear they were in violation of the non-aggression treaty, the ship altered course for Krazzle space without delay." Sevlek paused as the Captain considered his statements and continued, "It has been postulated that the Krazzle are testing the Federation and Starfleet's ability to hold and maintain the edges of the Raeyan Expansion."

Lee:"So have the C'hakilian tried to venture into Federation space or has it just been the Krazzle?"

"No, only the Krazzle. The C'hakilian Empire has reaffirmed its stance on the ongoing civility between themselves and the Federation by sending a member of the imperial family to Earth as an envoy." Sevlek responded.

He nodded:"So what does our mission on this entail?"

"This changes nothing for Starbase 400 at the current juncture in time. Your duties are unaffected at this time, however, if I feel that the situation has changed, Admiral Bremer will be notified and he will assign the support vessels he feels best suited to the tasks I assign him." The Vulcan answered flatly.

K'Temoc looked over to his brother. He was still pretty sore from being stabbed about a week before, and he made a grimace expression for a moment. "If required, I can have the Special Operations Team ready at a moment's notice and aboard the Yorkto...aboard the Steadfast."

Sevlek nodded at K'Temoc, acknowledging his statement. The man had recently been injured during the rescue of Bremer's oldest son. "If it becomes necessary, I will have Colonel Andrenicus brief you and your team on any relevant operational information."

After answering the questions he was asked, Sevlek looked at Bremer and said, "Admiral. I require a secured suite of rooms to use as a CIC of sorts for the personnel accompanying me for this assignment. They will disembark from the Gladiator once those facilities have been allocated for our use."

Mike nodded, “That can be arranged, we have an open Office on Deck 3 of Section A1 adjacent to Captains Greenwood’s and Clifford’s Offices. Feel free to also make use of Tactical Operations as you need, Section A1 Deck 2, it’s our CIC when needed.” He paused a moment before adding, “I expect both Vice Admiral T’Lar and I will be involved in all briefings and receive copies of all reports from the region. With Starbase 349 and the Raeya system ‘seceded’ from the Federation at this time, Starbase 400 would serve as Command Base for any defense of the Raeyan Expansion area. I can also send additional ships into the area as needed, and bring our compliment of Starships to ready status as needed.”

Sevlek nodded and tapped his combadge, "Sevlek to Colonel Andrenicus. Admiral Bremer has given us the vacant facilities in Section A1 of Deck 3. Begin the disembarkation of your personnel and equipment and report to me when finished." Sevlek looked back to Bremer, "Colonel Andrenicus is the operational executive officer for the intelligence gathering mission and Captain Zandusky is the executive officer of the Gladiator. Once their duties are both concluded, it would be prudent for them to meet with your senior staff as well." Sevlek paused, it would take either tact and diplomacy or bluntness to let Bremer know that any information gathered was need-to-know in the Vulcan's opinion of who needed to know.

Sevlek raised a brow as he responded to Bremer's request of open information, "I will see to it personally that you receive any information relevant and necessary to your current role as this station's commanding officer, Admiral Bremer."

Mike arched his eye brow in a rather Vulcan manner, "Relevant and necessary to my role as Station Commander?" He paused a moment, "You do realize to whom you're talking too? Starbase 400 is the operational Command Base for the entire Theseus Region. With the current secession of Starbase 349 and Raeya III, that includes the Reayan Expansion area. I want copies of all intel reports of the conflict, and I expect to be informed of any updates. Understood?"

Mike's expression showed his mood, he felt angry he was seeming being left out of the loop by Starfleet Command, again. He waited a moment to let his words sink in before turning and walking off. T'Lar, Pike, K'Temoc, and Lokran followed a moment later.

As Bremer walked away, Sevlek raised his brow. Eventually, he would find that Sevlek was only answerable to the President of the Federation in this assignment, as well as the more clandestine assignment for which he was sent here.

Deela, walking with the others, had been quiet ever since the earlier briefing. Then there was Sevlek whom she wasn't quite sure about. He kind of reminded her of her dad. She didn't sense any kind of deception and he seemed like most Vulcans, pretty much by the book and an arrogance that she couldn't stand.

As for Bremer, she could feel his anger and maybe a bit of annoyance. She didn't blame him, she didn't like being kept in the dark as well. If she had been given all of the information instead of bits and pieces, five crewmembers wouldn't have died, including her husband. She continued to walk in silence, her head reeling with thoughts.

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