241506.17 Plot log: Senior Officer Briefing

Posted on Thu Jun 18th, 2015 @ 4:17am by Captain Alistar McKeon & Commander Isabella dei`Silvisi & Lieutenant Commander Akira-Ri Sato & Lieutenant Jera'turak Ros

1,350 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Midnight on the Firing Line

Alistar walked into the briefing room and sighed as he sat down in the CO chair at the head of the table. There wasn't much to go on as far as his officers would react when they heard the news of their next mission. Other than Silvisi he hadn't dealt with the others much and two were recent transfers to Endeavour. But, the veterans of the Endeavour's shakedown cruise would definitely have a thing or two to say about what Alistar was about to tell them. All he could do was sit back and wait with the bad news.


Akira stepped through the doors leading into the briefing lounge and offered Commander McKeon a warm smile before she took a seat at the table. She had already been questioned by several of her department staff as to what exactly the Endeavour had been assigned that would warrant such a short layover at port, but even she was in the dark. Since this was her first time meeting Commander McKeon face to face, she wasn't exactly sure how to read him and gauge his demeanor; however her instincts told her that he himself didn't appear to be at all happy with the mission. That alone made Akira a little uneasy, but she quietly settled herself into her chair and waited for the others to arrive.


Isabella's first thought as she entered was that the briefing room needed better decoration. From what she had seen on the rest of the Endeavour, the interior decorators had spent a huge amount of time, thought, and expense at the overall interior aesthetics on the ship. The briefing room by comparison was plain, a bare functional room that had but one purpose. That thought passed quickly enough, but it lingered in the back of her mind as Isabella sat down beside commander McKeon and set the two Padds she had brought with her onto the table. Seeing Lieutenant Sato already sitting down, Isabella gave the other woman a smile.

"How are you settling in, Lieutenant?" Isabella asked, hoping that a little conversation would break the ice between the new officers and help pass the time as they waited.


"It's definitely going to take a while for everyone to fully adjust to the changes I've been making, but so far it seems to be going smoothly. There were a few rough bumps at first, but things are already looking better," Akira replied.


"That's good," Isabella said, nodding her head in approval. It was always a worry for command officers when being assigned new personnel, especially senior officers, on how well those new officers and crew would adjust to the routine of a new ship. But Lieutenant Sato had been highly recommended and had seemed to be an extremely capable officer.


Jera rushed through the doors and stopped short as she realized that she wasn't the last one there. Having to come all the way from engineering, the CEO was usually the last to arrive to any briefing, and Jera had been neck deep in an access hatch trying to check on a bypass station when she had finally been given the news. "Sorry I'm late," she managed as she sat down at the table.


Before anyone else could respond, the doors opened to allow the acting chiefs of the medical science and ops departments. Each of them took their seats and waited. As soon as everyone was settled, Alistar leaned forward in his chair and rested his arms on the table.

"Everyone, Admiral Greer is heading a task force that will be based out of Tanome Sar. They are there at the request of the Romulan government in case the coup that is currently taking place on Qo'nos goes from an internal power struggle to an all out invasion by the Klingons. Chancellor Martok has fled Qo'nos aboard the Rotarran. We are to meet him in the Lambda Hydrae system and escort him safely to SB234. As of right now, those are our orders," he said.


"Sir, what about the Klingon ships that aren't loyal to the Chancellor?" Akira asked, starting to understand just why the Commander had been so upset before. Missions such as this never turned out well, and in her opinion this was a matter that Starfleet needed to stay out of. As a Starfleet Officer, she would follow her orders, but in this case, she definitely didn't like them.


"Unknown at this time," Alistar admitted. "We're supposed to support Martok's forces, but until we know more about which ships are on his side we're going to proceed with extreme caution. I assume the Rotarran can transmit a list of friendly ships once we make contact."


"Who is challenging the Chancellor?" Isabella asked, not liking the mission details at all.


"A member of the High Council named Kur'vagh. I don't know much myself and I've requested all available information on him, but we do know that he has a large personal force, separate from the regular Klingon imperial forces, and he's intent on taking the throne and starting an invasion into the Romulan Empire."


"That would explain why they requested a Starfleet fleet," Jera said quietly, as she felt tears forming behind her eyes. Trying to hide her actions, she bowed her head and quickly wiped the moisture from her eyes. "They don't have much of a fleet left after the Reman rebellion."


"Agreed," Alistar said, seeing Ros's actions and trying to divert attention away from her. "Romulan forces are to be considered friendly, they won't cross the border unless they have to so we can't expect much from them. Same for Greer's fleet. They're only there to defend the Romulans from the Klingons. Our mission is to make contact with Martok, escort him to SB234, and wait for orders. If any Klingon ships attack us or the Rotarran, our orders are to disable or destroy them."


"And Starfleet isn't concerned about a war with the Klingons?" Isabella asked, surprised.


"If Martok doesn't make it to that starbase and rally his forces, a war with the Klingon is just what we'll have," Alistar said.


"I'll start training my tactical specialists on how to disable Klingon ships A.S.A.P.," Akira said.


"Focus more on destroying not disabling Klingon ships," Alistar said, ignoring the gasps of surprise. "Tactical, I want primary shields and phasers online and active at all times. Get with your tactical specialists and study every weakness in every Klingon ship class that we have the schematics for that's been built in the last hundred years. Security is double up on patrols, war time standards to all on duty personnel. If anyone needs a fresher course on how to use a phaser, get it done. Ops divert all nonessential power to primary systems and shut down everything that we don't need. Including the main lounge. Everyone will have to use the mess hall on deck two for a while. Engineering, I want every system checked and damage control on standby. Science, we won't need the majority of your department at stations, so secondary training takes precedence. Medical, set up medic stations on all decks. Take everyone you need from non essential departments."


Isabella sat in her chair in stunned silence for a very long moment before she leaned forward in her chair and turned her eyes to meet her commanding officer's before she finally spoke. "Commander, some of those orders require a formal declaration of war time readiness. As executive officer, I must formally remind you of this," she said.


"Correct, I just wanted to prepare everyone in this room for what comes next," Alistar said with an approving nod towards his XO. Moving his hand towards the control panel build into the table next to his arm, he pressed the ship wide announcement button and spoke clearly.

"All hands. Battle stations." Releasing the button, he stared at the shocked looks on his officers. "Dismissed," he said.



Cmdr Alistar McKeon
Commanding Officer


Lieutenant Isabella dei`Silvisi
Executive Officer


(A)Lieutenant Jera'turak Ros
Chief engineer


Lieutenant Akira-Ri Sato
Chief of Security and Tactical

 

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