Away Team Briefing

Posted on 07 Oct 2024 @ 6:57pm by Lieutenant Commander Remington Dodd & 2nd Lieutenant Jennifer Goodwin & Lieutenant Lamia ‘Mia’ Kildare & Captain Mazal Falk & Lieutenant Matthew Thompson & Lieutenant Paul Winchester & Lieutenant JG Faith Benson & 1st Lieutenant Gavin Ross Dr. & Lieutenant JG Margeurite "Maggie" LeFebvre & 2nd Lieutenant Cassandra Mathews & Master Chief Petty Officer Alexi Michelle & Sergeant Major Christopher "Chris" Kildare & Master Sergeant Thomas Zang & Ensign Autumn Cole & Sergeant Major Bronco (Bronc) Hardway & Gunnery Sergeant Ernst Rommel

4,402 words; about a 22 minute read

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

[ON]

Mazal sent out a call for those on her list, settling down in a chair to await their arrival.

The briefing for the Marine component of the away team went well and Captain Falk was able to make sure they were all well aware of what was expected and what their overall objectives were for the mission.

All of the marines and Captain Falk were already in the room when Dodd arrived.

"Greetings. I am so happy that all of you are here. The standard Starfleet members will be joining us momentarily. They have each been picked by Captain Falk and myself for this mission as we feel they complement your abilities as well as they have the skills we need for those who will be on the surface to accomplish this mission." Dodd stated all this as he slowly walked to the head of the table to take a seat next to Captain Falk.

As Dodd took his seat, the rest of the Starfleet complement of the away team started to file in.

Autumn made her way into the conference room, drawing in a breath to keep the butterflies under control. She was slightly nervous at this and also excited.

Gavin entered the conference room with a purposeful stride. He took his seat among superiors and fellow officers, giving a respectful salute and wearing a confident smile as he prepared himself for the upcoming mission briefing. He clasped his hands together on the table in a pensive nature.

Cassandra Mathews followed shortly after Ross. Taking a seat next to Gavin, she waited for the briefing to begin. She kept to herself as was the norm when she wasn't the one driving the bus so to speak.

Chris Padd in hand finally arrived at the meeting and nodded to those already there as he took his seat "Greetings Commander Dodd Captain Falk" Kildare said smiling at the pair.

Mazal gave a nod in greeting, and a brief smile, "Morning."

"Mornin' XO. Glad this is coming together." Dodd replied as he attempted to alert the room to the fact that Falk would be acting in a higher role on this mission.

Thomas entered with a brief salute and nod. He took a seat on the other side of Cassandra, nodding to both her and Ross, a smile on his face. He leaned back in his chair slightly and laced his fingers behind his head as he waited for the meeting to start.

Faith skirted in just as the doors closed behind Thomas, giving a slight huff. "Well then. Look I made it."

Paul entered the room silently taking his seat holding a PADD and a mug of Coffee, he began to listen to what was being said and took in the information as he remembered the last visit to the planet.

Cassandra couldn't help but notice Winchester's arrival, he looked a bit sullen and distant. She wondered if everything was alright. She made a mental note to ask him after the briefing if she got the chance.

Mazal was keeping track of who had arrived, looking for the rest to show up. This was a rather important meeting in preparation for the upcoming mission.

Lamia was a little behind entering the briefing, giving an apologetic smile as she entered. “Sorry, I’m late” With that she took a seat next to Chris to await the start of the briefing.

Chris looks at his wife and quietly says "The baby okay?" he asked.

Lamia offered a smile as she looked towards Chris. “He’s fine, I wasn’t feeling 100% but I’m okay now. I think it’s starting to improve now.”

*Smiling back* "Excellent news" he said then turned his attention to the meeting.

"No worries, you made it." Dodd acknowledged Lamia's arrival. "This meeting will be for all of you to know what will be needed to be accomplished when we arrive at Arth, but we have not started the details yet as there are still a few stragglers."

CPO Alexi Michelle entered the room quietly and found a place to sit towards the back. She wasn't sure what was happening, but it looked like something major with the number of people in the meeting.

Maggie was late. She always was, but she firmly believed that nothing ever really began until she showed up. She sauntered in, her flight suit halfway zipped, revealing a tight white tank top and nothing else underneath. Aviator sunglasses sat atop her blonde head, and she clutched a large cup of coffee. The work day immediately following shore leaves was tough. She partied too much. Or not enough. Or something. "Hello," she mumbled, and sat down, wincing a bit. How much HAD she drank last night?! Oh, well, who cared? That Risian was HOT and it was WORTH IT.

Paul raised his hand and asked " What about Serena?" as she was now carrying his child he did not want any strain put on her during this time as he looked back at the rest of the senior staff.

"She will be on standby if we need to get us out of trouble," answered Winchester.

Maggie shook her head. "I'll make sure the planes are in excellent condition but I am confident we won't need her," she said. Not in a way that she was perfect, but in a protective way. No need for Serina to be on standby and stressed out. She should be resting. Or whatever it was pregnant people needed to do. She wouldn't know.

Matt came in and grabbed a cup of coffee. Apparently, he was assigned to team two. He found his place and took a seat.


While the others were filing in, Mazal rose up from her chair and clicked up on the monitor of the teams she had devised. She didn't say anything as per it yet, just letting those going on the away mission see what was up.

========
Team one
========
Mazal In command of team one
Thyra
Maggie
Zang
T'kara
Goodwin
=======
Team Two
=======
Faith( Lieutenant )(in command of team two)
Autumn
Thex
Kildare
Thompson
Winchester
============
Team Three
============
Lamia (Lieutenant) (In command of team three)
Bronc
Matthews
Alexi
Ross
Rommel

Lamia looked at what was up on the board, it gave her butterflies seeing her name up on the listing as leader of team three. She gave Chris a look and a smile needing his reassurance as much as Mazal's faith in her.

In her slowly waking brain, Maggie realized that there was a whiteboard with her name on it. SHE was being tagged for an away mission?! She fought an urge to snort and instead looked around. Must be serious if there were THREE away teams needed. She, of course, could easily figure out why she was there-someone was going to have to haul butts and supplies. But who was Mazal Falk? Sounded fake, honestly. OH, one of the Marines. Gross. They were always loud and got airsick and puked in her bird. LAMEEEEE.

Cassandra read the lists. Lucky team 3. Thankfully she wasn't going to be in charge of this one. Just mostly 'support' from the look of it. Which suited Cassandra just fine. She assumed that Lamia probably had prior experience with the planet or the people or something. Even if that wasn't the case Cassandra trusted Falk's decisions. What kept drawing her eye was seeing Tommy's name up on Team One. It was hard not to think of Ctirr and Lt. Haze at that moment. A touch of fear gripped at her, clawing at her like those waking nightmares that had plagued her during Ctirr's recovery. She said nothing though. What could she say? This was part of the job. She'd have to trust in Falk and in Thomas that he'd come back safely. Her eyes went from the list to her hands to hide the sudden feelings of discomfort she was feeling. Then when she was confident in her composure she looked over at Thomas with what she hoped was an encouraging smile and mouthed the words, 'Team one. Great job Brighteyes.' and flashed him a quick and discreet thumbs up.

"I am pleased with all of those that will be part of this away team and the smaller units once on the surface. We have a vast task of attempting to reset the level of tech on the planet to that of what they should have without Federation interference. I trust all of you can make this mission to Arth our last and then leave it up to the anthropologists to do more observations." Dodd stated.

"To add, for those that do not know, I am acting captain and Falk is my XO. She will be part of the away team since I can not be. She will have my full trust to make the calls that need to be made. Please give her all of the best each of you have to give. I want you all to know that if any of you have any reservations about this mission, please see me or Lieutenant Kildare for some mental assistance, we are here to help you and want you to be at peace with what is upon us. Go and do this for the honor of Captain Somers and the crew. We are Tomcats even if we are not on the Tomcat for this mission." Dodd stated as he stood and gave a salute to the whole of the room.

Maggie just nodded. Dodd was nice enough-boring but nice. She was just hoping that no one called on her for anything requiring brain cells until at least ten-thirty.

As Remington had said her name Lamia gave a smile to all those present, most of them knew who she was, and any who didn’t at least got to set eyes on her now.

Cassandra had gotten up and gave Dodd a respectful salute in return. His words were inspiring. Still, it did little to quelch the 'reservations' in her mind. Cassandra knew she'd say nothing about them. The only way to deal with fear was to face it after all. So she would.

"Don't worry everything will be fine," Matt said.

Thomas stood up and saluted the room before stepping out. Once out of the meeting room, he leaned against the bulkhead and waited for Cassandra to come out.

Everyone was starting to leave the room to prepare for their mission tasks ahead of them. Dodd felt a sense of dread and fear from Matthews and so he felt, he needed to act upon it.

Dodd then took his seat once again. "This meeting still has some details to relay. The away team as you have noticed, is going to be divided into three teams. Captain Falk will go over what the tasks of each team will have as the priority task but overall we are to have the tech recovered, destroyed or made completely inert and recover all persons from the original observation team as well as Lt. Lee, Ensign Torres and Ensign Picardo who remained undercover from our last visit."

Adding her own thoughts, Mazal spoke up. "For those who do not look human, you will be able to participate. With how warm the planet is, for those who are Andorian, you will have coverings that will disguise your skin coloration. veils and head coverings and your body temperatures will be regulated by the suits that will cover your skin. For those who have pointed ears, just a head covering will do. For any other details come see me if you have any questions. The teams that I put together all of you have skills that are necessary for this mission. As long as we work as a team we can accomplish this. You are now dismissed to get ready."

A pause then Mazal looked at Dodd before the people left, "Commander, with the three parties that have been divided in, doesn't this mean we have three different targets we need to take care of? Like the main computer which controls the monitoring systems and two others. Or will there be more information be given once we get to Arth?"

Don't look HUMAN?! For once, Maggie suddenly felt weird and self-conscious about being human. In Human culture, she was pretty much the ideal specimen-tall, blonde, thin. But she always felt a little boring and valued specialness, and it would've been cool to be, like, Trill or Bajoran or something. Not TOO far from human, but just enough for interest. At least she wouldn't have to hide her body, though, so there was that.

As soon as the words "ready" were issued, the pilot was outta there. Get ready?! Shoot, all she'd need was a pee break. She was ALWAYS ready to fly. She should probably eat a bit of something, though. She made her way to the Hangars-she replicated something there quickly.

As the meeting came to a close, Falk had dismissed the crew. "Lieutenant Matthews, please hold back a moment. I would like to ask something of you." Dodd asked for the 2nd LT.

Both Autumn and Mazal quietly left the briefing room. For Mazal she will get the details needed for the away team objectives from Dodd later on, then will pass on the information to the teams.

Cassandra held back, curious, and then remembered the incident with Hawksley recently... Dodd was an empath. She cursed herself inwardly as she approached him. "Aye, sir. What can I do for you?" She asked though she had an inkling.

Lamia rose from her seat moving across to Dodd having sensed the same thing from Cassandra as he did. “I’d like to remain if you don’t mind Commander, Lieutenant Matthews is Part of my team.”

"I ask that you trust me and let me talk to Matthews on one." Dodd asked of Lamia Kildare. "However, if Lt. Matthews would like you to remain, that is her call to make."

Lamia nodded respectfully. “Of course Sir, if Lieutenant Matthews wants me to leave then By all means I’ll leave.” She looked at Cassandra.

"I haven't any objections," Cassandra said as she looked at them both presenting the best poker face of absolute innocence that she could manage. Maybe she was wrong... maybe this had nothing to do with what she was feeling... Maybe it had to do with the contraband found in the storage locker. Or maybe it had something to do with the Benson incident? Or maybe they found out about those late-night holodeck sessions with her teammates and those silly games and pranks they got up to while challenging each other to do stupid stuff? Perhaps they found out she was skipping therapy? Or it could simply be a thank you for that party for Falk? It didn't have to mean anything was wrong or bad now did it? Still, with her luck, it was easy to default to bad luck. Her eyes looked to both of them as she waited patiently to see just which of her sins had been found out.

"Don't be nervous, you have nothing to fear. This not about any incident or contraband. This is about the dread you have in your mind." Dodd stated to the young lieutenant. "You need to know that I understand what you are feeling. I once had an ordeal that made me not want to serve in Starfleet any longer."

Cassandra was not expecting that. Though in hindsight she probably should have. Her feelings often betrayed her. Even to those who weren't 'sensitive'. It's what Tevran Antako had found to be most entertaining about her.
"I am sorry sir. I wasn't meaning to be so projective." Which was true. She couldn't help herself she always wore her feelings on her sleeve. Still, she wasn't ready to talk about her fear. There was nothing to be done. She always feared for those she cared about. An unfortunate side effect of losing one's entire family at a young age. Then more recently the loss of her foster parents and friends and nearly her brother. Fear was to be expected. She was only human after all. Still, curiosity brought on her next words.

She cleared her throat, "I beg your pardon sir, but you don't strike me as the quitting sort." Or the fearful sort. Her mind added more softly. No Dodd often struck her as the tough-as-nails sort that could pull just about anything off he set out to do. The type of officer that didn't flinch. The type she'd once dreamt to be before her life went to shreds.

Lamia was simply there to observe more than anything else, letting Remington discuss matters with Cassandra. She would talk to Cassandra at a more appropriate time. Remington knew what he was saying would stay strictly private between the three of them.

"I must admit I can see some of me in you. You are trying to find your place in the universe and yet you had some misfortunes that hurt you." Dodd stated. "You see of me what I want people to see. I am not a quitter and I will do what it takes to keep my crew and my ship as safe as possible."

"Well, my career started with me wanting to separate myself from my past as I was not meant to be in Starfleet. I was to be a pillar of Betazoid Society and live on Betazed on my family's estate. I had to separate myself and thus have always longed for finding my place in this universe. Then I joined this crew and found myself. Then something happened to me." Dodd looked to Kildare and with simply the wink of his eye, he relayed to her what was coming up to be said. "I am about to share what drove me to the brink of almost walking away from my commission. I typically only say my side of the story but since Lamia is here will us, I will share more. A few years ago, Lamia and a few others including myself were captured by some Rogue Orions. They knew we were telepathic and wanted to use us to get the secrets of our abilities and maybe harvest the genes to make an army of telepathic Orion hybrids to assist in their twisted acts across the universe. Anyway in the encampment, I was used as a sire bull to breed with other telepaths" he paused.

"I took all could to control my mind but they pumped me full of powerful drugs and in the process I impregnated Lamia. She was also drugged and that made the gestation cycle progress a little more rapidly than normal. We were rescued and treated but her pregnancy was not reversible so she delivered a daughter. However, our daughter was not able to survive and it tore our hearts into a million pieces. The bond that Lamia and I had under the influence of the drugs and pheromones was merely an enhanced connection we had for one another but never acted upon. I will say we still have a strong bond of friendship that is beyond a relationship that lovers could share. We will always remain friends. However, due to the passing of our daughter, I wanted to walk away and go on my own in the universe. Do you understand what I am saying here?" Dodd asked of Matthews.

Cassandra looked at Kildare. Then back at Dodd. She couldn't fathom the hardship the two of them had suffered. To lose their child as well seemed an overbearing loss on top of it all. How strong they both were. Cassandra had only recently gotten to be a mother to her own daughter. Martha had been put into protective care, hidden to prevent her father from trying to kill her. She'd been living proof of his assault against Cassandra. Proof that Starfleet had a few screws running loose that needed to be checked. It wasn't until Tevren's death that Cassandra was recently given her daughter back. Her heart ached for them both. For their loss. For the understanding of what they had suffered through.

Lamia offered a brief smile as she looked to Dodd, then to Cassandra. “It took a long time to come close to accepting the loss of our daughter, and it still hurts, it always will.” She paused. “But our friendship, and this new little one..” she rested her hand on her growing stomach. “It’s helping me to move on, as you have moved on.” She smiled warmly at Remington.

"I then realized that I had to overcome those negative emotions and the feelings of dread. And in the memory of the daughter Lamia and I lost, I found the reason to resume my presence in Starfleet and got myself promoted to XO. I use the loss to keep me driven. I want you to overcome the dread of your loss and use that to help you. I know you can do this. You are a good member of our crew. You seem to have a strong will to do the best and that is what your lost loved one would want for you. That is what I want from you. I will never ask of you what I would never ask of myself. Can you promise me that you will come to either Lamia or myself if you ever have an uneasy feeling? You can always talk to me. As the counsellor, I know Lamia will do what she can to help you as well. You are one of our family, you are one of us and we need you. You have what is needed to help this mission succeed and I want you to be comfortable with the tasks ahead of you and the rest of the crew on this mission." Dodd responded.

"Aye sir, I understand. I won't let you down. I will try to be more open about my situation. It's just very hard. I often think that I'm getting better and then out of nowhere something pulls me back there again." Cassandra promised. She knew from Falk that she needed to trust the team. She just didn't want to burden them either. She wanted to be stronger for them.

“When it does come talk to us, either of us, or both of us” Lamia smiled. “We’ll be here for you.”

"Understood. I will." Cassandra promised. She knew she was supposed to be going to see the counsellor as it was. It was just hard. Cassandra worked hard to try and forget that terrible ordeal. The murder of her foster parents, her and Ctirr's abduction and captivity. The resulting pregnancy, the trial that had seen her stripped down of her rank under the pretence that she'd abandoned her post. The murder trial when they tried to pin C'Tirr's disappearance and assumed death, it had driven her nearly mad. Two years later here she was, with Falk's help and that of her fellow Marines she'd found strength, safety, and peace of mind. Still, they were right. There was still so much more left to rebuild.

Officer Gavin sat at the end of the conference table, feeling awkward and unsure. After he had sat down, the meeting seemed to have concluded, but he wasn't entirely sure.

As he pondered whether it was appropriate to ask any remaining questions, his gaze shifted towards Commander.

Dodd, Lamia, and Matthews, who had gathered at the far end of the table, were engrossed in an intense conversation.
It became clear to Gavin that he was not a part of this discussion, even though he had been present the whole time.

Feeling out of place, he awkwardly got up slowly, clutching his coffee, and silently made his way to the exit, hoping to retreat unnoticed. ‘Oh my god. What was I hearing.’ He thought as the door hissed closed behind him.

Cassandra watched her lucky number seven slip out the door. She'd need to catch up with him later before the start of Running Man. She made a mental note to do so. For now, she focused on the conversation at hand.

Lamia noticed Gavin creeping away, she’d make a point of dropping by to speak to him when time allowed.

[OFF]























 

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