Return to Hydaransz System

Posted on 23 Jan 2017 @ 7:33pm by Captain Jasmine Somers FCapt & Master Chief Petty Officer Lucy Armitage & Captain Maia Sterling & Lieutenant Commander Sheela Swiftpaws & Lieutenant Solan Jekkar & Lieutenant Commander Remington Dodd & Lieutenant JG Akuhl K'Tel

3,749 words; about a 19 minute read

Mission: S02 Episode 2: Once More Unto the Breach (Main Story)
Location: USS CRR/Tomcat Briefing Room/Starbase 39 Sierra
Timeline: Mission Day 0

[ON]

- Captain's Ready Room -

Jasmine had had her shore leave and was now back on board catching up on some paperwork, some of her enlisted crew had returned early, these were mainly the engineers who would need to begin the engine warm up. As she got to the halfway stage her Yeoman entered, she looked up and smiled ay Lucy as she entered. The Master Chief had the Bajoran nose, but it was not as prominent as a full blood Bajoran, then again Lucy was half human; as the Non-Com walked in with a grace that Jasmine wished she had.

"What is it, Lucy?" Somers asked.

"Starfleet Command on channel one Captain, they seemed eager to speak to you" Lucy replied also with a smile.

"Okay, Lucy thanks" Jasmine watched the woman leave then opened the channel.

An Andorian Admiral appeared on the screen, he smiled to some degree, but this did not hide his frustration, Jasmine studied him, he began to look uneasy at her green gaze, when she decided she had teased him enough.

"Greetings Admiral Thorin, to what do I owe this honour?" She asked.

"Captain, do you remember the Hydaransz system?” He pauses as he watches her nod “well omega Starbase has reported increased activity from the Orion’s this time, they are trying to muscle in on the power vacuum left by the original Pirates you fought. As the Klingon and Romulan have embassies on the Starbase they have both agreed to supply defence ships to the station, Starfleet has also sent some more ships to the area.”

*Pause*

“These ships are mainly guarding our mining facilities on all rocky planets and moons that have value, we also have a few ships at Omega Starbase, but I want the Tomcat on station there, your task is to finish mapping the inner system. But I will be honest the Orion’s have made impressive outposts in the inner system and they have ignored all hails. So while you map out the inner system, you will have to be on guard for any attacks from them, at this point, I am glad that the class M planets there got no sentient life on them, otherwise, the Orions would have slaves. So when your crew is back aboard set a heading directly for Hydaransz, then brief your people and secure that system, Starfleet out.”

“Well then, let me see what the Admiral left out!” she said to herself and hummed and arred as she read the Intel reports and from her own sources. “So that is what he did not say, okay then” she checked the location of her crew and found them all on Starbase 39 Sierra, making as much time left of their shore leave as they had left. She hoped some of them managed to get home for the festive holidays.

She opened a channel to the Starbase and asked to be connected to their internal speaker systems when notified the connection was made.

=/\= USS Tomcat to all Tomcat crew, return to the Tomcat for a mission briefing, you have two hours, Tomcat out =/\= The moment the line was closed she began to prepare the briefing.

- Starbase 39 Sierra –

K'Muss at the bases, armoury when he heard the message. The armourer Sargeant had just handed him back "Kat" the phaser carbine. He tapped his commbadge =/\= K'Muss here, Captain. On my way.=/\=

"Thanks, gunny! Should work out fine." He said. The Sargeant nodded as the caitian left for the ship.

Cahill was in the Starbase Sick Bay signing for all new supplies and was finding it interesting with the extra supplies they were putting on. She had not loaded like this since the Dominion War. She heard the communications message and tapped her badge. "On my way Captain. She was closer to a transporter room that the walkway so she had herself beamed to Transporter Room 1.

She went immediately to the Briefing Room and stopped at a replicator to get something to drink and eat. She was so busy laying in the supplies. And had not taken any time to eat. She took her seat and waited for the briefing to begin while eating.

- Starbase 39 Sierra - Klingon Cafe -

Akuhl was in the middle of a relaxing meal with another Klingon she had met practising with his bat'leth. Their impromptu sparring session had gotten her blood singing, which quickly led to other more...primal...pursuits.

She knew if she ever took a mate he would have to be a Klingon. She had tried once with a human male, a strong Security officer, but not even he was enough for her; by the time her passion was spent he had a broken arm, several cracked ribs and a fractured pelvis.

They had just finished down some fire wine when the call came in.

"ghay'cha'," she muttered as she tapped her comm badge. "This is K'Tel, acknowledged," she said.

"I must go," she said. "Qapla'!"

"Qapla'!" he replied as she grabbed her gear and began making her way to the shuttle pad.

- USS Tomcat -

Solan had finished unpacking the last of his things on the Tomcat and had already begun his Duty Roster for the Security Department wanting to get ahead. The Lieutenant sat back behind his desk and examined his files as the call came through. "This is Jekkar, Acknowledged I'm on my way."

The Andorian collected his PADD and left his Office taking a Turbolift to the Briefing Room. He checked his Uniform was tidy before stepping out onto the Deck.

He took a few steps and headed inside the Briefing room. He nodded towards those who were present and took a seat.

- USS Tomcat _
- Engineering -

Dodd had already been on the USS Tomcat. He reported early to oversee the start-up of the engines. He had already had his gear delivered to his quarters and the Chief Engineer's office. He was nervous as this was his first major assignment. He wanted to make sure that his team in engineering were working on their duties and working to the best of their abilities.

oO I am really liking the crew here in engineering. They all seem to work well together and have seemed to accept me so are. Oo

- Starbase 39 Sierra lower levels -

Sheela was down in the warrens of the Starbase where the rougher element hanged out in the dimly lit seedy bars tucked in the back corner or some vacant space. She was listening to an Orion Recruiter out to recruit some serious muscle with high pay and women to sate their lust on. She was about to approach the Orion Recruiter was the faintly down the corridor a speaker blared to life, recalling Tomcat crew back to the ship.

Sheela yawned and tossed her cards into the centre of the table, "Too rich for mez blood. Iz fold." She gathered up her winning which was a lot more than she started wit, but not enough to make herself a target after she left the place. She stood up and tossed the Bartender a chip, "Round for this table on mez!" Much to their delight. She cashed out her chips and faded into the dark corridors and labyrinthine ways back to more civilised parts of the station. Once safely away, Sheela made her way back to the Tomcat.

Soon Sheela entered the conference room where everyone was gathering. As usual, she was wearing her all black ensemble of black cargo pants, black sandals with a black tank top with a bright yellow smiley face. She just flopped in her usual seat at the end of the table from the Captain chair. "This better be good. Iz was cleaning out some of the locals of their hard-earned pay."

Maia was at that time on the main shuttle deck helping there Romulan guests depart for greener pastures, most of their equipment had been transferred to the Romulan cruiser De'vorre. There were one of two things left to do when she was called to the conference room.

=/\= "Sterling here on my way, Captain". =/\=

She handed the inventory sheet to one of the security officers and made her way to the main conference room.

- USS Tomcat - Main briefing room -

As Jasmine entered, she was pleased to see her senior Staff there, she pulled out her Padd and refreshed her memory on what it is she wanted to brief her crew about.

"Welcome back, hope you all enjoyed your shore leave? Mine was excellent."

"Iz woz winning mez next stake of operational funds," Sheela spoke softly from her end of the table.

What shore leave Maia thought...

Solan shrugged he hadn't really used Sure Leave that much apart from meeting up with a few of his old classmates. He was more focused on seeing to the new Staff in his Department.

She let things quieten down before she continued, clearing her throat to get their attention and quieten them down.

"Okay, out next mission is returning to the place the Tomcat had its second mission, last time around we only managed to secure the outer system planets and captured a valuable outpost. Only two of the Senior Staff remain from that mission, myself and Commander Sterling, for the rest of you, this will be a first time. *pause* When last we were in the Hydaransz system we had other combat ships and lots of marines and we still suffered heavy casualties. *A hint of sadness entered her voice as she said this* the outer planets have mining bases on them and those rocky bases are either rich in dilithium or Deuterium, so you can understand how much the property is there and how tempting it is to the lawless masses."

*Pause*

"Okay latest reports say that the Orion Slavers and Pirates have taken over the inner systems, for now, they are leaving the outer systems alone before I continue, are there any questions?" Jasmine paused after asking.

"How heavily armed are we thinking?" K'muss asked, partially dreading the answer. A lot of his marines were untested in combat. Also, do we have any idea about their combat ability?

"Orion Pirates I thought we had run them out of the sector, Captain. It looks like we will be fighting. How much backup are we going to have"? Maia asked.

Looking at the pain in her XOs eyes, clearly, she remembered Maia was the ship's Chief Science Officer only back then, both of them had dark memories of those days. "No these are not the same pirate Commander, they are fully flesh and blood, not one cybernetic enhancement among them, as far as we know. Starfleet Intelligence stealth probes have not detected the same type of amalgamations as before." She left the rest of the question hanging there as no doubt another would ask about backup.

"What is our objective?" Akuhl asked. "Is just a show of force or are we going after the pirates and slavers?"

"Iz say Mercenaries. Lots of them. Orions have recruiters out recruiting malcontents and those crave action in the more violent sort. Plus females to keep the troops happy when not fighting." Sheela looked at Somers. "Iz hope Fleet is sending in more ships with bigger fighting forces this time around."

Somers looked at them and answered each question, in turn, she looked at K'Tel "The objective is simply this to map the inner systems and push out the Pirates and slavers, the system has no native sentient life so the high command has it labelled to become another Babel, as it is close to all three empires. While we trade Deuterium and Dilithium with the Klingon's and Romulan's the outer system will be class as Federation territory. The inner system when they are freed up will be neutral territory where all empires can meet and as the system is in easy reach of three large fleets."

*Pause*

"We will have some backup if needed, for once the Romulan's agree that the plans for the system would warrant their participation, so yes Commander Swiftpaws we will have some back-up should we need it. The first priority will be diplomacy, but despite you all going to Hydaransz for the first time, most of you have dealt with Pirates and Orions. Besides diplomacy, we are on a mapping mission, for the cover story we are going into the inner systems on a mapping mission, but the Slavers and Pirates are not stupid they will catch on quick. As for troops, Starfleet has begun a troop build up on Omega station, this is Omega Station" she paused as she brought up the image.



"Starbase Omega and currently the HQ for the assembly in this system, this is why we need to cleanse this system of hostile opponents, now do any others have questions before I continue?" She asked looking at those who had not yet spoken.

"Why are they so interested in this system, it's now pretty heavily defended. What's changed I wonder"? Maia asked.

Solan looked at Maia. "Best guess it's got a lot to do with building Bridges with the Romulans, we make peace with them on this venture then we can hopefully open new relations.

Looking at her CoS "Partially correct Lieutenant, there is a Political element included here, but also there is the fact that these unsavory people have been trafficking slaves from Federation Colonies on the outer edges of Federation space and ships too, I hear that they have some Klingon and Romulan slaves too, the question is are those Klingon slaves still alive *paused* probably as they still have enemies to fight and Klingon's as a rule, will not kill themselves as long as there is an enemy" *another pause* "okay I will take a few more questions before I hand out the assignments." Now she waited.

"Ma'am, what sort of strain are you expecting of the engines? I have never been in battle directly but was on Betazed after the Dominion War working for the Betazoid Embassy and learned all I could about the Akira class ship. I know the engine schematics like the back of my hand and I have already had some of the eager engineers start work on reinforcing the known weak points in the antimatter storage tanks. Also, I have been reviewing the upgrades to the engine design and will work those modifications in as we can. I don't know much about the Hydaransz system and I just would like to know what to expect." Lt (jg) Dodd stated in the pause the captain created and attempting his best to not sense those in the room. He still had a lot of data to gather about the previous missions to the Hydransz system.

Sheela lounged back in her chair and was busy gathering all the information on the Hydaransz system she could get her paws on and store it for later study. She set up a meet-n-greet with the local SFI CIO for a more behind the scene picture of what is happening in the Orion Controlled Section of the Hydaransz System.

"I will see to the provisions Captain, and personnel transfers. Will we be needing and specialised equipment"? Maia asked.

Looking at Dodd and squinting "It is Lieutenant Dodd our new Chief Engineer?" she asked and he nodded "Welcome to the Tomcat, now to answer your question the engine strain to get there would be nominal as the system is close to our location. As for the scientific data and its effect on the ship engines, please seek out Commander Sterling, she was the Chief Science Officer back then and she should be able to help you out. As for information on the Hydaransz system, you can find the information in the Tomcats databanks and a brief log of its history in that system, if you want a first-hand account then speak to my XO Commander Sterling as she has first-hand experience when we took a dead hostile onboard. *looks at Sterling* You okay with that Commander?"

https://sites.google.com/site/usstomcatfrontpage/home/tomcats-aoos/hydaransz-system

"Of course Captain" Maia replied

Smiling "excellent *looks at Dodd* any more questions?" she simply asked.

"Thank you. I will seek out Commander Sterling after we are done here. I will do more research in the future." Dodd replied to the captain. oO Wow Somers is one tough cookie, but I hope to only give her and the ship my best. OO Dodd thought to himself as he had easy jobs before getting this assignment. He was controlling his abilities as to not start reading all in the room until he got more comfortable he would need to hold back. But he was sure he would get hazed about his question down the road.

"Okay if there are no more questions I will move onto some assignments and I will mention a change on the ship, but as regards to the Hydaransz system, in short even though we have a foothold in the outer system, it can be like a Klingon bar on fight night where all the Klingon's are drunk and enjoying themselves but not as happy. By the time we arrive there, Assault group Sigma should be there waiting for us. Sigma is a Starfleet/Klingon Taskforce fitted out with the most powerful ships from both sides and lots of troops transports. these will be the cavalry, any and all Special Operations will be done by the Rifles on the Tomcat, now onto the brief assignments besides your normal ones you all know what your bridge stations are."

*Pause*

"Commander Sterling you will do the Science aspect when we move into the system, have Lieutenant Cahill work with you to note if there will be any health barriers should we need to put boots on the ground."

Dr Cahill took in all the information as the meeting progressed. "She smiled, this explains all the Sick Bay computers and new equipment as well." She passed her tablets around the group. "As you can see we have been extremely well stocked. We are also updated to the newest medical tricorders available they are faster and work directly with the Sick Bay computers." She passed the new one to LT K'Tel, here is yours.

She then passed one up so the CO and XO could check them out too. "She then continued, I pre-stocked Sick Bay and also set up 3 additional areas in Cargo Bays 1,2,3. To use them as secondary areas to treat casualties if needed. Also, Captain, I have have been in the Hydaransz System before I was there with a research ship as a medical officer as an Ensign. Almost got taken by the, also, welcome to our ship Lt Dodd."

"Welcome aboard Mr Dodd," Maia said.

"Commander Swiftpaws, I want you besides your normal duties to man Communications on the bridge and liaise with your equal at Starbase Omega, the data we have is vastly out of date, I want to know what has changed in two years, also Lieutenant Commander I got your agreement back and you officially start your post as Second Officer immediately."

Swiftpaws glanced up briefly, "squeee," non-committal as she resumed her work sending out inquiries to Station Omega. She was lost in her work going through what information they had to date. She wondered if any of her old contacts from the last foray into the system were still around.

"Lieutenant K'Muss, run Alpha Unit that is 101 marines through basic insertion and wipe out mission scenarios, as if we do put boots on the ground it will not be to take prisoners, though having one or two may help, but train those marines for the worst." she said with a smile

"Acknowledged," the marine said

Looking at the others "Lieutenant K'Tel, I read in your file that you are qualified to fly capital ships! how would you like to fly the Tomcat?" Jasmine asked.

"As long as the navigation systems are up, ma'am," the Klingon doctor replied, and let out a nervous laugh. "If they're down, I could fly us into a star."

Smiling "good, then when your duties in sickbay are not needed you will pilot my ship" Jasmine did not know how to interpret the look the Klingon gave her "how have you been getting along with Red Squadron pilots, the ships Klingon fighter squadron, well I hope?"

"Good ma'am," Akuhl said. "No mating proposals yet, though."

"Good to hear, *looks at Dodd* El-tee when not working in engineering you can monitor the engines from the bridge, *after a reply she looks at Jekkar* Lieutenant Jekkar, after we are underway I want you to work up boarding scenarios for enemies boarding us and we them, also post some security outside key areas of the ship and all crew are to be issued hand Phasers, after my last experience in the Hydaransz system I am taking no chances. But for the undocking procedures, you will be needed on the bridge."

Solan nodded. "Yes Ma'am I think I can drum up a few surprises for the Crew." The Andorian mused with a slight chuckle. "I'll have Phasers issued then report to the Bridge."

"No problem, Ma'am. Serving on the bridge will be an honour when not in engineering. ". Dodd replied.

Looking around the room "any further questions? Good, dismissed we leave within the hour so be ready" Jasmine said as the crew filed out of the briefing room, she took the moment to reign in her emotions, she was one who needed closure and hated to leave a job half done, she looked over to the closed doors "once more unto the breach" she said and headed to the bridge.

[OFF]

Captain J. Somers
Commanding Officer
USS Tomcat

MCPO1 Lucy Armitage [PNPC: Somers]
Captain's Yeoman
USS Tomcat

Commander Maia Sterling
XO/CSO
USS Tomcat

Lt. Cmdr Sheela Swiftpaws
CIO/2XO
USS Tomcat

Lieutenant Cahill MD
Chief Medical Officer
USS Tomcat

Lieutenant Jg Solan Jekkar
Chief of Security/Tactical
USS Tomcat

Lieutenant Jg Akhul K'Tel MD
Doctor/Helm Officer
USS Tomcat

2nd Lt. K'Muss
Marine Commanding Officer
USS Tomcat

Lieutenant Jg Remington Dodd
Chief Engineer
USS Tomcat

 

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