Phase 2 Briefing Part 2

Posted on 06 Dec 2020 @ 6:42pm by Lieutenant Colonel Alexandria Somers & Lieutenant Commander Alexanderia Cahill & Lieutenant Commander Remington Dodd & Lieutenant Lamia ‘Mia’ Kildare & Lieutenant Leland Hawksley & Lieutenant Paul Winchester & Captain Patrick Jackson & Lieutenant Matthew Thompson & Lieutenant Serina "Reaper" Donovan & Ensign C'Tirr K'Ruuras & Ensign Geoffrey Hale MD & 2nd Lieutenant Cassandra Mathews & Lieutenant JG Ted Silver
Edited on on 06 Dec 2020 @ 8:17pm

4,757 words; about a 24 minute read

Mission: S03 Ep 02 Trouble in the Sticks UXSys 659842 (Main) Phase 2
Location: Tomcat Conference Room
Timeline: S3 Mission 4 MD 00

[ON]

With all her Senior staff currently, present Alex begins as she starts to pace...

"Okay, for those who are new to this ship let me bring you up to speed on what we are dealing with, first off a little history lesson abbreviated back in the 2360s a symbiotic species tried to infiltrate the Federation, this species is a mutated offshoot of the Trill symbionts, or so it is believed" she paused as she paced, she was not one to sit still. "One of them took over a Starfleet Lieutenant and evolved into a Queen and spawned dozens of drones when these drones took control, they gave the user increased strength and stamina which made them resistant to Light and Medium stun settings. In fact, the only levels that worked were maxed stun in which you had to hit the infected twice unless you are a good shot and frag meaning phasers on full power disintegrating the host, the max stun had a fifty-fifty chance to stop an infected person heart, back then Starfleet did not have a name for them, it was only later we found them to be called Bluegills. If it was not for the crew of the Enterprise D then we would not be here now, that is the end of the shortened history lesson now to the actual briefing, Oh and you can tell who is infected by a spike protruding from the host's neck back here" the Colonel said as she had Lucy turn around and she pointed to the nape of the neck and thanked the Yeoman. "The gill is blue in colour so the name is apt, it also seems that the only species we currently know of in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants that are immune to this are the Cardassians" she paused a moment to let that sink into the minds of the new arrivals.

"On Phase One of this mission, the Tomcat was sent to Galen IV in the wake of the bombing of the Cardassian Embassy on there and the killing of all Cardassians. During that mission, I led a team under the guise of a Security unit hired by the Cardassians out from New Sydney we investigated the destroyed Cardassian Embassy and passed our finding onto the Cardassian Government knowing the Bluegills on Galen IV would be monitoring the communication channels. Commander Sterling who is now commanding the USS Leto also led a Science away team down to the surface to find a scientific way to free the drone controlled hosts, we knew going in the host of the Hive Queen was a lost cause. During this the Captain sent down a two-man team consisting of Lieutenant Dodd and Lieutenant Walon, our CIO has a unique skill that allowed her to locate the base of the hive queen and they returned with the location. While in orbit two squadrons of our fighters fended off some Orion Pirates and a flight from our third disabled a shuttle trying to escape the planet, in the end, it all worked out we transported the hive queen and any who were in that location into space and vaporised them, eventually, the drone hosts recovered, but all have a form of PTSD. Now before I move onto the briefing for our next destination, will be UXSyst. 659842, are there any questions on what I have said so far?" The Colonel asked.

C'Tirr stood in the back against a wall and watched the room. His whiskers would twitch from time to time as he smelled the air and his ears rotated towards each person who spoke. He was quiet as he listened closely. He had no questions yet but he might by the end.

Cassandra shifted uncomfortably. Starfleet never gave history lessons or bedtime stories without good reason. Bluegills. She suppressed a shudder. Nasty things. They made her think of those brain bugs ... Ceti bugs! Nasty critters that crawled into the ear and wrapped around the brain steam... Yeah! Only uglier and more invasive from the looks of it. She made sure to take notes about the resistance factor to the phasers. She'd save her questions till the end in the off chance they might be covered in the next bit of the meeting. She would be talking to the CO about maybe doing regular checks on the men just to make sure they stayed extra healthy.

Dodd merely observed the colonel as she gave the start of the briefing. He was watching to pick up her body language and mannerisms so that he could perhaps read her without actually reading her mind. "I have no questions so far, Colonel."

"Sir, If I may ask," Paul spoke looking at the Colonel, He continued, "What role is the ship's Security going to have in this next phase ?" posing the question to the senior officer in the room as he picked up his coffee and took a sip.

C'Tirr's ears perked up and he shifted away from the wall. Here was something he could use and he made sure it had his undivided attention.

The Colonel looks at Winchester with a neutral expression as she paused mid-stride "valid question Lieutenant, well done; what Security will be doing besides making sure this ship is safe is assigning some security personnel to the away teams" Colonel Somers answered "any other questions?" She asked Winchester in a neutral tone.

"Sir, May I ask of any Ideas who will be going on the away mission so that I can plan the Roster?" asked Paul knowing that he had to work out schedules in case he was off the ship and even now that still had to be done.

She thought a moment "There will be multiple teams at least two Science teams security team, a Scout and if a thing goes the way I expect a SAR team led by our new MCO to rescue said teams from the planets surface, other assignments will be handed out as they arrive, but you will need to at least assign one security officer or Rifleman to the away teams that go to the infected planet, those teams will be in biohazard suits if the atmosphere is too poisonousness for going down without them" she looks at Thompson and Cahill "Ensign Hale and Ensign Silver, you will both work on finding out if our away teams will need bio suits down on the planet, understood?" she asked the Science and Medical officers, then looked to Winchester "any further questions from Security?" She asked.

Patrick shook his head. He already had ideas for who to attach to these away teams if asked and was already looking at rosters for a SAR team.

"None from me on a Security point Sir," replied Paul as he knew that he would be going on an away mission of some kind but didn't know yet which kind, he leaned back once more to listen to what was being said before asking any more questions.

Looking around the room "okay if there are no other questions, I will continue" the Colonel said and leaned back.

"Understood, we'll have that assessment to you as soon as possible," Geoff said, acknowledging his assignment.

Silver did not like wearing the bio-suit. He found it claustrophobic but he could work in one.

"It's so... scary to think of a species that invades your mind and just takes over, destroying your individuality like that," Nicci said as an opening comment. The Orions had practically erased her entire identity shortly after graduating from the Academy so she was especially averse to collectives and mind alteration. "What can we do from an engineering standpoint? "

Serina looked and pondered the words but for now, she understood what was being said and stayed quiet for now.

"I agree with you on that Lieutenant," the Colonel said looking at Taggert "make sure this ship continues to run smoothly and make sure we have a fall-back with transporters should things go south, anything else?" She asked.

C'Tirr shuddered at the thought of the things burrowing into his skin. He'd claw his own flesh before he would let them take him.

Cassandra had ideas. She was wondering where she might be able to get her hands on one of those critters to study it. She had an idea and it was brought on by the engineering asking about their place in this. She shook the thought away though far too dangerous with how aggressive these things were said to be. What a shame. She went back to her notes and fact gathering.

Nicci smile, her full lips curling up as she did. "That I can do. I'll leave the coffee pot running downstairs in Engineering," she chuckled a little. "Just don't get us involved with a Vor'Cha class vessel and we're good," she laughed a little. "I'll see about leaving spare parts on hot standby if necessary in one or two transporter rooms and keep two shuttles prepped in case we need a second evac option."

"I am not sure, but where do you want my people and me at this point? On-standby? I would think if a warbird were to show, there would be a fight," Serina said not sure if that was the right question, but it needed to be asked.

Lamia sat quietly in her seat, simply observing and listening to other people’s comments. She had no questions of her own for now.

Hawksley had pondered. From a Flight Control aspect, he had to be prepared to take the Tomcat into evasive actions. He may have been jumping ahead, but he was very interested. “Colonel.” He eyed her questioningly. “Are we to assume that the Bluegills will be present on 695842? If so, does intelligence know if they have flight capabilities in orbit of 695842?”

"That is something none of us knows Lieutenant, but I will speak of what I know in the next part of the briefing," the Colonel said in response.

Patrick saw where this was going he assumed. It sounded like they were about to earn their paycheck. While he was interested to hear the rest of the briefing, he stayed quiet and observed the rest of the department heads, learning some of how they think by the questions asked or not asked.

Dr Cahill replied, "We need to make sure the Bluegills do not escape to any type of ship. If they get control of a ship they can spread out to other planets and Starbases. It is completely important that we can end the Bluegill threat here and now."

Lt Thompson merely took in the news and did his best to absorb it. The problem was that he lacked facts. Everything about this briefing was based on best guesses from what he could determine. Most of the data they had was from an unmanned probe doing flybys.

Hawksley had nodded. He understood the reply from the Colonel, and what that had meant.

Iria had not said a word thus far and was in no rush to chime in. She was, however, very upset, and feeling betrayed by the Colonel's mentioning of her abilities to the room in general, but she wasn't going to voice her complaint in front of the whole room. She would bide her time and talk with the Colonel directly after the meeting. The system they were heading into they have very little to go on and she had nothing to add at this point.

Rena was there at the meeting listening to what the Colonel had to say, and what was going on during the meeting. She had her padd with her writing notes and looking concerned about what's going on during the meeting. She hoped things weren't too serious on what the meeting is about...

Lifting his eyes Ted saw he was not the only one at the meeting, who was horrified to hear about these creatures? Even at the academy they never really touched on these things. Maybe Starfleet Command was still embarrassed by them. Getting to the top brass on Earth?

Looking around the room and seeing that no one else had any questions, she continued to pace as she collated things in her mind before she continued.

Dodd was still just observing the LT COL and learning to read her without using his telepathic abilities. He knew she was nervous even though he did not understand why. She came across as a good leader, but maybe it was because she was taking over for her cousin and didn't want to make her or her cousin look bad. He was also picking up on Taggert's nerves about this phase of the mission and he was hoping to make her more engaged in engineering to help her keep her mind focused so she could relax and not be so afraid.

Geoff cleared his throat and spoke up with a question "Colonel, may I ask if any further investigation has gone into the method you discovered for freeing the victims of these beings?"

"For that Lieutenant, you will need to speak to Lieutenant Thompson and Commander Cahill after this briefing" the Colonel answered, she wanted to get it completed and to get going.

"Thank you, sir," Geoff replied, making a note to speak to his superiors about this research soon.

"Mr Hale you should stop by Science lab two after the briefing I would be happy to bring you up to speed on what we are doing". Lt Thompson replied.

"Thank you, Lieutenant, I'll be very eager to see what you can show me."

She paused a minute as she continued to pace and when she stopped she looked at the assembled officers and placed her both hands on the table and rested her partial weight on them as she looked around the table "Okay, this is what we know about our next destination it is a fully unexplored system with little or no data on it, and it is the site of the newest Federation colonies, the system titled Unexplored System 695842 is two light-years west of Starbase 51 shortened to UnxSys 698542 all we know about this system is that it has two Class M planets and a main-sequence star that is like Sol, we do not have any further data on this system, we know there are other planets in the system. Colonists landed on the two Class M planets and one sent back a message saying that they were sending help to the second planet and nothing from either planet was heard from during the next scheduled check-in. *pauses* Starfleet Science Department in conjunction with Starfleet external security sent an automated probe to UnxSys 698542 and it scanned both planets and returned home with some disturbing news" she paused here to take a sip of water and to finally sit down.

"What the probe got was the first Class M in UnxSys 698542 was healthy as any Class M planet could be, but the initial colony landing area was deserted, there were bodies there but nothing alive that came on the colony ship. Now here is the terrible bit the second Class M was totally different, the atmosphere was polluted somehow, we do not know how, nor does Starfleet Sciences. But they did detect a massive amount of life... Of a sort, what was most alarming was that a mutated trace of Bluegills was detected down on the planet, so a second probe was sent, but this one had more science equipment on it and the data it sent back was not encouraging" she paused again for effect.

"The planet was indeed still inhabited, but the colonists had mutated along with their bluegill hosts making the populace into a form of zombies, we do not know what they eat to sustain them, only that the populace is beyond saving. So like Galen IV, we have been authorized for a full Base Delta Zero, unlike Galen which was saved from a BDZ order by beaming the hive queen and those in her immediate room out into space and vaporizing them, this second polluted Class M planet cannot be saved and trust me by killing the mutants we will be doing them a service. The upside is the hosts are too far gone to pilot ships away from the planet which has been quarantined and we have been assigned this task, but as this is also an unexplored system we can kill two birds with one stone, excuse the expression, so before I assign duties for when we get there are there any questions on UnxSys 698542 and the Infected planet?" the Colonel asked and sat back waiting for the flood of questions.

Lamia gave Somers a curious look. “Colonel, there are a lot of unknowns going on there. There’s no information on what caused the second planet’s atmosphere to become polluted, there’s also no information on what made the bluegills and their hosts mutate. As much as I hate to say it shouldn’t Starfleet be looking for answers to both? What happened and how can it be stopped if it happens elsewhere?”

She looks at the Assistant Counsellor "anyone ever tell you that you should have been a Science Officer Lieutenant?" The Colonel asked with a smile "That is what the Science team and Medical teams will try to determine before we send away teams down to the planet, but a science team will be based on this ship and will try to determine answers to those questions as it is a good batch of questions, I would gladly do a BDZ right away and safe any potential losses, but as acting Captain, I cannot do that so I will tow the party line I am nothing if not dutiful and will conduct things as a Fleet Officer, not a Marine" she said, "anything else Lieutenant Arderne?" She asked.

“Not at the moment, thank you Colonel” Lamia smiled warmly.

Serina shuddered at this point. oO Oh my god! We're going to destroy an entire planet of life! Oo This made her face pale slightly. "Colonel, what type of weapons would be needed to do the job?" she asked weakly.

After responding to Arderne she looked at her CAG "that is yet to be determined, but I see the concern and horror on your face Lieutenant, I share those fears, but the second planet is beyond help, anything further?" She asked.

Swallowing the foul taste in her mouth, "Not at this time Colonel" Serina said.

Silver felt sickened by what he heard. Those poor people down on UnxSys 698542. He raised a hand then when pointed and spoke. “Captain, is there anything apart from granting the occupants of UnxSys 698542 a quick and painless death?” He asked.

Looking at the Assistant Chief Science Officer "a Base Delta Zero order is a planetary bombardment, something the Akira is capable of should the need arise, I will not lie despite the planet being lost and those on it unsavable what we are about to do will haunt us for years to come, I have things in my past, missions I did for Starfleet that I have done as an NCO that still haunts me to this day, so it will not be easy *and looks at Arderne* counselling may be busy after this mission Lieutenant Arderne" the Colonel said as a flash of long-held pain showed briefly in her eyes as she mentioned her past but it was quickly hidden.

Ted shook his head sadly. That was not the answer he had wanted to hear. Didn’t the old saying go ‘ where there is life there is hope ‘? The way Colonel spoke the planet's populous fate had already been decided. He could of course refuse to take part in the mission. But then again if others joined in and the bluegills got off the planet. They would be at fault for causing others to suffer. Who would not have had the population of the planet been wiped out? No. He was honour-bound to serve. If saving trillions of souls meant the death of one planet. Then as bad as that was. It had to be.

Patrick looked around. With so little intel, questions would be all over and he guessed few answers until they could get in orbit. "Ma'am, do we know if the atmosphere contains any biological or chemical agents that may trigger mutation?"

"This is why Science and Medical will determine if away teams will go down in EVA suits or not, but I want you to have a SAR team or two prepped and placed on alert when we get there," she said.

He nodded. "Aye, ma'am." He had one question left, but noticing the objection to a BDZ order, even on a hostile planet, he felt it best to ask the Colonel in private after the meeting. The Colonel was already doing her first mission that was upsetting to some of his shipmates, he did not need to upset their sensibilities with questions that only a Marine would want to know the answer to.

"I have developed a chemical compound that makes the Bluegill drones leave their host. If we can follow the Drones back they will lead us to the Queen. Once the Queen is destroyed the Drones will die off. Without much damage to the hosts. The Queen is the only Bluegill that can reproduce new Drones. I was able to run a couple of tests on the Drones and it does work. Also Killing the Queen will kill the host as there is nothing we can do to prevent that." Cahill stated and paused before adding further. "I tried to surgically remove the Drone they will release a poison that will kill the host. So the chemical is the only safe way to remove the Drones." Cahill continued.

The Colonel looked at the Chief Medical Officer "That would have worked on Galen IV Commander, but on the planet, we will be heading to that is not an option sadly the science drone that was sent reported biomass but mutated and infected, this is why I said that Starfleet did not come to the BDZ order lightly, they are fully aware of events, but we are servants of the Federation and the Council has begrudgingly given such an order after what happened in 2360 deep in Federation space they are all to aware of the threat the bluegills are and should any of the mutated ones get off-planet then it is a disaster I have said it before int he past and I will keep saying it the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" the Colonel said.

Taggert shuddered at what was being discussed. She had no hair but on her head, but she did get goosebumps hearing about zombies. Sure she watched the movies from a few centuries back like other kids, and at the Academy, she practised shooting drills in the holodeck against zombies to make it easier for them to shoot to kill, but this was real life. She felt her pulse quicken at the thought of what zombies could do.

"I also have a few questions. If something mutated the people on the planet, has that been isolated yet? Is it still active, or airborne, or transmitted some other way? Can we simply stop the zombies or do we need more drastic action like incinerating the infected area or igniting the atmosphere? " She saw the looks and felt Dodd's look at her. She continued," I'm just looking to know what I need to prep for regarding energy requirements and ship resources, and the danger to engineering staff at our destination. "

"No, it has not, this only data we have is from an unmanned probe. There has been no official planetary survey performed by Starfleet on either of these planets." Lt Thompson advised.

Cahill replied, "I see no problem with you doing some research Ensign Hale. As long as it does not interfere with the mission or your duties in Sick Bay.

"Sir, what about a small shuttle to take some scans to close up of the planet?" asked Paul as he knew that he could pilot the Shuttle himself, he continued," I would be willing to pilot the Shuttle myself Sir? as he knew that it would give him a chance to once more be back out in the void, as he missed flying."

"We could do a shuttle to scan the surface, or we do have a small fleet of orbital drones we could use as well so no people have to go down to the surface until necessary," Dodd added. "We could even have the drones controlled from a shuttle in a lower orbit than the Tomcat," Dodd added.

Alex looked at the CEO "look into it Lieutenant the more information we get our away teams will be ready, as forewarned is fore-armed, better yet make it happen" the Colonel amended.

"Will do Colonel," Dodd replied. "We can get the drones synced and set up to scan in grids and thus we could get a larger view of the surface as well as collecting all sorts of data to help the rest of the mission." Dodd looked at the Colonel, then at Winchester and then Walon.

Iria nodded her head, "I agree with the information that could be collected, we can make better and detailed plans."

Geoff glowered darkly at the Colonel's description of their mission, he had certainly not signed up to help destroy whole ecosystems. Still, he battled the sinking feeling that what Somers said was true and none of the colonists would be in his power to save this time. He resolved to throw himself into studying the bluegills and treatment for their victims if he could do nothing to save them it wouldn't be for lack of trying.

Dodd was still observing the whole room. He noticed that many of the staff were having reservations. While also did not want to destroy a whole planet and the life on it, he knew it was for the best. "This mission sounds like the best way to handle the bluegills. However, has Starfleet calculated the risk to the rest of the system once we destroy the planet?

She looked at her Chief Engineer "Finally he speaks" she said with a smile "we will not be blowing the planet up Lieutenant, you will need a massive fleet of ships to accomplish that, no the plan is to do an Orbital bombardment of the settlement and the immediate surrounding area then firebomb the entire planet burning the flora as there is no fauna on the planet and then a chemical agent will be dispersed that will target the mutated hosts and Bluegills specifically and then a quarantine will be put on the planet for two-hundred years, but said weapons and chemicals will need to be produced, Science and Medical will work on a chemical agent that will target any mutations that are not natural evolution and when the fires go out the land will have fertilizer to replenish what was scorched" she said as she looked around the room "make no mistake people I am not happy myself with these actions, nor is Starfleet, but the threat the Bluegills pose has driven them to this and the fact that the planets colonists cannot be saved" she added in a grave tone.

Hawksley was a bit taken aback at the idea of sterilizing, destroying a whole planetary population. Given the fact that there was little information or intelligence on the system, he felt apprehensive at best. Yet, as Starfleet officers, they had their orders. He didn’t envy the Commander at all, yet she sterilized a potential catastrophe if the Bluegills were to populate outside UnExsys 695842.

To Be Concluded in Part 3

[OFF]

Lieutenant Colonel Alexandria Somers [P: Somers]
Acting CO

Lieutenant Commander Alexanderia Cahill MD
Chief Medical Officer/2XO

Lieutenant Remington Dodd
Chief Engineer

Lieutenant Jg. Paul Winchester
Chief of Security

Lieutenant Lamia 'Mia' Arderne
Assistant Chief Counsellor

Ensign C'Tirr K'Ruuras
Assistant Chief of Security

Lieutenant Iria Walon
CIO/Chief Counsellor

Lt. Jg Nicole Taggert
Assistant Chief Engineer

Lieutenant Jg Matthew Thompson
Chief Science Officer

Lieutenant Jg Leland Hawksley
Chief Helm Officer

1st Lt Patrick Jackson
Marine Commanding Officer

2nd Lt Cassandra Matthews
Marine Executive Officer

Ensign Ted Silver
Assistant CSO

Ensign Rena Sara
Security Officer

Ensign Geoffery Hale MD
Assistant Chief Medical Officer

Lieutenant JG Serina 'Reaper' Donovan
CAG/Raider 1/Helm Officer

 

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