Briefing the Marine Component...

Posted on 07 Oct 2024 @ 7:00pm by Lieutenant Commander Remington Dodd & 2nd Lieutenant Jennifer Goodwin & Captain Patrick Jackson & Captain Mazal Falk & 1st Lieutenant Gavin Ross Dr. & 2nd Lieutenant Cassandra Mathews & Sergeant Major Christopher "Chris" Kildare & Master Sergeant Thomas Zang & 1st Lieutenant Jasmine Allen & Sergeant Major Bronco (Bronc) Hardway & Gunnery Sergeant Ernst Rommel

4,238 words; about a 21 minute read

Mission: S04 Episode 01 Captive State Part 2 (Incidentals)
Location: Main Conference Room
Timeline: Current

[ON]

Falk had called in all the marines of the crew that she felt would be best for the situation on the surface of Arth. It was thought to have mostly female marines, but Mazal thought that there needed to be some of the males included.

Dodd had advised Falk to assemble in the main conference room. He wanted to meet the Marines first to advise them of their specific duties that would be a slight degree different from the standard officers on the team.

Over the Commbadge Mazal sent out a call to the marines who will be going on the mission. =/\= Lieutenant Matthews, Lieutenant Goodwin, Sergeant Major Kildare, Sergeant Major Hardway, Gunnery Sergeant Rommel, Lieutenant Jennifer Goodwin, Lieutenant Jasmine Allen, Master Sergeant Zang, Captain Jackson and Lieutenant Ross please report to the main conference. Falk out. =/\=

Once all the marines Falk requested to report had arrived, Dodd made his way to the conference room with his PADD and a large mug of Rigellian Spiced Chocolate Cider.

"Greetings, I am glad you are all present and I believe my XO has selected the best contingent of marines for this mission," Dodd stated.

Looking around the room, Dodd recognized all of them or at the least knew who they were from their file review.

"So those of you who are female, you will have the brunt of authority on the surface. Arth is a Matriarchal society and that is why I wanted this meeting. You all have a submission to this overall mission."

"So, we are going back to Arth, interesting the only thing really worth looking at there are the females, I can understand why the females rule" Kildare said in awe remembering his last visit. "Last time we were there we had to evacuate and dismantle one of our duck blinds, Commander Dodd is not Lieutenant Lee still on Arth and undercover?" Kildare asked the First Officer

"You are correct, Lieutenant Lee, Ensign Torres and Ensign Picardo remained behind to continue some extensive undercover observations and document more about the society and culture of Arth. We have no way to know what their status is until we get to the planet and lock on to their subdermal commbadges and check in with them." Dodd replied. "We will need to scan for them and pinpoint their locations and see if we can get them alone to talk or to beam them up. Otherwise, the first task for any part of the away team would be to find them. Once they are accounted for and are able to brief us of their findings, we can get to work to find the remaining survivors of the original observation team and then deactivate the technology that was not to have been used in the manner it was. We also need to retrieve from the surface any tech that we can to be sure it does not get misused in the future or by other entities." Dodd added.

"There will be three smaller teams that will split out from the overall team. Each team will have a specific set of goals. Also, each of you will have a collective task. That task is to defend the away team at whatever cost without giving away that we are outsiders. You will have weapons that will be camouflaged to resemble the native weapons but have our technology. Only the weapons will be bio-linked to your biosignatures. This is to ensure they can't be used against us. Each of you will be given subdermal implants for us to track you and beam you out if an emergency occurs. This subdermal implant will also act as the relay for any communications that may be needed. The lead marine in each team will have the call for who will be the designated communications liaison for the team. The team lead will ultimately have the final say in any part of the mission. If safety comes to the forefront, the team lead will be the one to pull the team out and move them to safety or call for emergency beams. We would like to avoid beaming out but in dire straits, we will do so." Dodd stated firmly.

Mazal looked over at Patrick who she made certain to be a part of this briefing. "We will be counting on you and a team to come get us just in case."

"We have your back ma'am," Patrick answered Mazal. He doubted his team would be called on, but they would be ready in case. "Commander, if my team is called out, what level of contamination of the culture will be acceptable? Basically, will we be objective-focused or Prime Directive focused?" The Captain asked. There whereas many interpretations of the Prime Directive and contamination contingency as there were Admirals. The answer will direct how his team would react if called on.

"That is a fair question," Dodd replied. "I am saying we are objectively focused on this mission. The situation on the planet is that someone from the original observation team went rogue and took Federation technology and engineered it to make new tech to advance them in society to a level that exceeded what level these people would be at and thus interfered beyond what the Prime Directive would conceivably allow. So we can not let the planet know of life outside of the planet's known species, we must do our best to conceal the truth while we attempt to cleanse the planet of Federation influences." Dodd hoped that made sense to those present as he was trying to be as clear as glass.

Kildare tended to remain silent in such briefings, he always found it best to listen and observe.

Gavin confidently strode into the conference room, took his seat, and swiftly slid it back into place at the table. His silver mug of coffee, accompanied by four sweeteners and four creams, sat proudly next to his medical inventory PADD. Gav cast his gaze upwards towards the table, offering a sharp salute of respect. A confident smile played on his lips. His top priority was ensuring adequate medical supplies for the teams' emergency kits.

Ross fielded a question when the floor was open. "Commander, Captain. Should I assume the role of the sole Medic on this mission, or should I provide Med Kits for each team?" He asked, directly addressing both his superiors.

"In the teams that will be going on this mission, there will be others who will have medical experience," Mazal stated. "Once this briefing is finished there will be a larger briefing with all of those going."

"We will have some members on each team who can administer minor medical care. The members of the away team will all be implanted with subdermal communicators to allow the ship to monitor them and speak with them if needed. Ross, since you will be on the surface, Corsair will be monitoring the medical readings of the away team as her primary focus if not needed for any medical issue on the ship. But if anyone needs anything medical while on the surface that can't be done with the others' minor training, the rest of the team should seek you out or get the injured crewmate in isolation for emergency beam out." Dodd replied.

"Acknowledged, Sir." The Marine Medic understood his orders. Basically watch out for anyone injured and help when necessary.

Cassandra had come when summoned. Had listened to the briefing carefully and took mental notes. The mission was straightforward enough. Get in, find the taint, discreetly remove the taint, and get the hell out. They'd be broken into teams, each team had a leader, pretty standard, and each team had a designated communications officer. Still, Cassandra had questions.

"These native-like weapons, will we have the opportunity to train with them prior to deployment? It might help us blend in if we can handle them with some familiarity. Also, will we be given an outline of the tasks allotted to our teams or will we be dependent on the team leader to delicate while we are planetside?" Cassandra asked when the opportunity was presented to ask. "Also, will there be files or holodeck programs available to help educate us on their culture and language and such in order to aid us in blending in? I understand we are to have minimal contact but if something happens where we find ourselves in a situation that requires us to interact, we will need at least a run of the basics." Cassandra continued.

Thomas nodded at Cassandra's question; he would like to get the feel of the style these weapons would be taken for the mission. "I'm curious about these weapons as well, you said they will still be based on our standard weapons as far as how they work but any weapon style will take some getting used to. Especially for those of us who rely upon our weapons for their job." He looked around to see who else might have an opinion on this matter and then to the commanding officers for the answer.

"I have found native weapons that are not a Spear or sword are a lot harder to learn as we in the Federation are so used to the hand phasers and phaser rifles" Kildare piped in.

Cassandra was glad others had chipped in about the weapons issue. Still, she was hoping her question about the culture and such wouldn't be overlooked. Especially since, unlike the rest of some of the crew she has never been to this planet before and thus any information on helping to blend in would be important to the mission.

"If I may, I have some knowledge of archaic weaponry and would be happy to work in the holodeck with anyone who wants to have a few hands-on pointers using such weapons. However, I do know that from what reports have been shared a few of the elite guards for the proconsul on Arth have early-style phaser pistols that merely have a high stun setting. But I am sure Commander Dodd will approve any instruction on primitive weapons." Goodwin inserted into the meeting.

Dodd then looked over to her, "I do authorize the use of the holodeck to cover basics for archaic, primitive weaponry instruction or training. I would encourage you all to give it a try and that way you are prepared for what may happen."

Archaic weapons, that is something Mazal was trained in. "A bit of a refresher in using archaic weapons is a good idea. Due to Marines needing to work in all sorts of conditions, they have been given training."

Cassandra spoke up raising her hand a little. "Also the culture, how they talk, dress, what they believe, and so forth. We need to learn those things to an extent. Does the Holodeck program cover that as well?" She just wanted to make sure. Weapons were fine and dandy, especially training with them. But the best weapon was the one you did need to use.

Looking over at Cassandra *Smiling* "Well Cass, it is a female-dominated world, but the rest is a good question about dress styles, Commander?" Jasmine Allen said as she looked expectantly at Dodd.

"Feel free to use the reports of our last visit to recreate as best you can the attire from Arth, which is similar to the later half of Earth's twentieth century, circa 1970 to 1980."

Gavin raised his hand as well. He addressed Commander Dodd and Captain Falk, noting the difficulty of blending in on an alien world without knowledge of customs and practices. He mentioned the integration of Federation technology in the Arth society and the potential suspicion it could arouse if the teams tried to remove it. Gavin also brought up the incident with Lt. Hawksley and the aggressive reaction from the inhabitants when he disrupted one of their rituals.

"They won't take kindly to us removing their items, just like they had become very aggressive in the reports when Lt. Hawksley self-aborted himself from one of their fertility tank rituals. The inhabitants got very angry fast."

"Fertility what now nots? I'm missing a bit of info here." Cassandra was instantly pissed. Who had done what to her friend Leland? Oh, the angry sharks were swimming and she choked down that rage if only so she could focus on the replies from their superior officers.

"So the planet has evolved a symbiotic relationship with the humans that were transplanted there. They appear fully human in scans; however, they have developed the need to procreate via pools that allow the follow of male reproductive fluids to be mixed with the planet's biological elements and then somehow the fluids are injected into the vaginal canal and the woman is then impregnated. That part is still being reviewed and examined to see just what happens in the pool." Dodd attempted to explain. "The whole process is native to this planet and the humans here seemed to have adapted to that process. So from the reports I have read, they do not have the physical sexual rituals that most humanoid species experience."

That seemed to temper the fire for now. Though Cassandra still wasn't happy she wasn't as angry as before. Curiosity was itching against what was left of her distemper. What a strange if not interesting way to blend a species. Still, she made a mental note to herself not to go swimming or fall into any bodies of water while planetside. Bodies of water... Her mind put the pieces together and she bit down on her lower lip to stop the sudden urge to laugh at her internal joke. This was after all not a laughing matter and professional conduct was to be employed.

Thomas listened closely to what had been explained about this ritual. "Is there a way to be deemed unworthy of this ritual as a male? Maybe making us unattractive to the females on this planet?" He asked. He would gladly undergo a procedure to make himself look like he had fallen from the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down if it guaranteed he wasn't chosen to be bred.

"This is why the group is predominately female, the men though will be claimed by the females in the teams due to it being a matriarchal society. Once claimed, the men should be alright. Plus stay out of the particular pools. I had gotten pulled into the ritual as well. It wasn't just Hawksley." Falk stated firmly. "However, there is an antidote as well as an agent to prevent becoming affected by what is going on with the planet's water. Everyone going on that planet will be given that hypospray, as it ticks up the libido immensely. And we need everyone to have a clear head."

Thomas raised an eyebrow before he spoke again. "What exactly is the male's part in this mission since from what I have heard so far it would be better if it was all women instead of a mix like we have going?" He asked.

"From what we know of society, males are part of the mix and have a role in society and so we need to include them on the mission and while we will still have them on our team as equals, they have to appear as submission to the females to blend in," Dodd replied.

“If I may,” Gavin clasped his large hands together at the Marine Table. He then toggled a screen view of what he was about to explain. “I have studied and presented an emergency Federation Medical and Science Institute publication that has already been peer-reviewed. Once I found out the characteristics of our mission ahead, titled “Futuristic Breeding Process and Bio-Mechanics: Enabling the Birth of a Cross-Species Antidote. Doctor 2nd Lieutenant Gavin Ross, Marine Medic, USS Tomcat.”

“As we gear up for our mission to the matriarchal planet of Arth,” Gavin highlighted the genetics of the overview screen in the conference room. “Comprehending the unique breeding process that governs their society is of the utmost importance. Our ability to develop an effective antidote hinges on our understanding of the biomechanics involved in the fusion of male and female seminal fluids. This knowledge is not just crucial, but it is the key to engineering a solution that can significantly impact the success of our mission.”

Ross stopped and took a drink of his diet coke, swallowed, and continued. Like our own reproductive system, Arth females produce seminal fluid, albeit with unique properties. The FSF contains essential genetic material and nutrients to develop a new organism. To accommodate the female-centric hierarchy, the FSF contains elements that control males' adaptive traits and submissive characteristics. I have analyzed samples from female and male submersion pool chambers from the past Arth mission.” Ross breathed outward, took another drink of his diet coke, and checked his silver watch and pad, clicking the screen to the following infographics for the conference.

“Males of the Arth species also produce seminal fluid, which plays a vital role in breeding. The MSF contains complementary genetic material necessary for offspring development. However, it also possesses specific signalling agents that enable the modification of the genetic traits within the FSF, emphasizing submissive attributes in male offspring.” He paused before continuing.

“Based on our analysis, we will work towards manipulating the FSF composition. By understanding the key elements responsible for submissive male traits, I have engineered a biochemical solution that mitigates their influence. This intervention should balance dominant and submissive traits among the offspring.”

“I have developed a genetic antidote to counteract the imbalanced genetic traits in the Arth population. By achieving this, we will ensure the empowerment and adaptability of our marine contingent during our operation on the matriarchal planet.” Gavin looked every officer in the eyes, ensuring he took this matter very seriously. “I have studied and completed an artificial intelligence double-blind study and found the male and female antidotes effective against unwanted improper stressed propagation from our crew. This will also have a set of hormone statistics that allow males of Starfleet Marines to be seen as undesirable due to hormones.” He completed his presentation.

“Any questions.” He then drank his Diet Coke and again looked at his silver wristwatch.

Cassandra raised her hand, "Will a copy of this report be made available upon request? I have nothing but the utmost confidence in your obviously hard work Doctor Ross. I'm just just very particular about what goes in my body. It's a personal thing. I of course have no objections to taking my dose of ugly juice." She smiled at her friend, "My second question, Were there any recorded side effects or things that we should keep an eye out for behavior-wise or physically?"

Mazal interjected her viewpoint. " In a study that Doctor Taral had done, and also something that I had experienced, if the antidote isn't given what happens there is an uptick in the hormones, more aggressive behaviour and the strong almost uncontrollable desire to mate. Sorry the sexual desire as I had mentioned before, is extremely heightened. I am glad that Doctor Ross has come up with an adaptation of the inoculation. I had even gotten with Doctor T'Kara to proceed on this matter as well, giving her a heads up as to what may happen." Looking at Gavin, "we certainly do have a good medical team in which to combat this at a rather high level. " Mazal giving a smile towards Gavin. "I was witness to what happened on the male side of things, having needed to interrupt what was unfolding, with our Chief Engineer. Most definitely you will need to have that placed in you before we go down. Before I had my antidote I was set off by just inane little things someone looking at me, and my taking it wrong my heavy bag got quite a work which only helped momentarily." actually being rather forthcoming as to her experience.

Cassandra fought the urge to glance over at Zang. She was already struggling with a problem of increased libido. The idea of that being amplified at all was horrifying. She was happy they had an inoculation ready to combat it. "I think the medical team deserves a raise." She said falling back on her crummy jokes to mask her discomfort.

Thomas did glance over at Cassandra though. He wished that either he had been placed on her team or she had been put on his. He looked at the team listing again and noted that he appeared to be the only male assigned to team 1. He truly hoped that this inoculation worked so he wouldn't have to be subjected to any unforeseen issues on this mission.

Mazal was watching the expressions and body language of those there. Sure her revelation was a bit straightforward but she trusted in the medical team's efforts to combat what they may face. "I believe in all of you, you've got the necessary skills, and willpower to get through this. Otherwise, I wouldn't have placed you in the teams that I have formed."

"Aye Captain we will get the job done. Your trust is not misplaced." Cassandra stated. Pre-mission jitters were always common. She knew knew once it was go time she'd be ready. This was the time and place to ask questions and address concerns. "Will we be staying long term on the planet? Are we talking about days? Weeks? Months? How far out does the problem go? Is it localized in a few areas? Or is it global yet?"

Looking at Matthews "Relax Cass, the missions will always take as long as they take, just always hope for the best outcome, but prepare for the worst outcome" Allen responded.

Cassandra snapped her blue eyes on Allen. "That doesn't answer my question about the problem now, does it? Is it localized or global?" Cassandra asked again. It wasn't an unreasonable question to be honest. Still Cassandra decided it was likely going to be the last one she bothered asking at this rate. From now on she'd just smile and nod and assume everything was for the best. Who needed information anyway? She was simply there for support after all. She'd be a good dog and just do what she was told when they told her to. Easy peasy. Details were for the people that mattered. Not the fodder.

"Captain Falk, I will closely monitor the team's health throughout our time on the planet. I must conduct regular check-ups and screenings to detect potential health issues or adverse reactions to the planet's environment or the rituals. By closely monitoring the Marines' health, I can promptly address medical concerns and ensure the team's overall well-being.” Gavin confidently asserted, facing Mazal and then the rest of the team. He had a serious yet calming, pleasant look as his eyes gazed.

Gavin cocked his head sideways, raising a left brow. Taking a drink of his metal can of diet coke, swallowing… “Additionally, Captain. Will I involve the planet's inhabitants in treating injuries, providing medical aid, and offering undercover guidance on health and safety measures?” The doctor's expertise and knowledge in medical matters will be crucial in addressing medical emergencies during the mission.

Mazal drew in a breath then let it out slowly. "I feel that we will be more concentrating on keeping our people healthy. We are to make certain we do not further contaminate the people we'll be walking amongst. Make as low of an impact as we can, also with the insect spy cameras we need to be ever so careful in not tipping our hand, as those we are looking for will probably be watching for our return." Mazal took a look around the room.

Looking at Falk "All observers risk that Captain, it is a shame we had to dismantle our duck-blind on our last visit, due to technical reasons, do you know of the fate of or current status of Lieutenant Lee the anthropologist left behind to observe Captain?" Chis Kildare asked Falk.

"That is something that we will have to see about making contact with her. " A glance at the time, Mazal noticed that it was getting late. "As it is we can adjourn this meeting, and I will be meeting with each team to give out the team assignments and information that is needed. For now though it's meal time and I am sure that all of you, as well as myself, am a bit hungry."

Kildare simply nodded in response.


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