Mission Briefing Part 2

Posted on 13 Oct 2021 @ 3:34pm by Lieutenant Colonel Alexandria Somers & Lieutenant Commander Remington Dodd & Lieutenant Commander Alexanderia Cahill & Lieutenant Lamia ‘Mia’ Kildare & Captain Patrick Jackson & Lieutenant Matthew Thompson & Lieutenant Serina "Reaper" Donovan & Lieutenant Paul Winchester & Lieutenant Leland Hawksley & Lieutenant JG Tosrol Ze & Lieutenant JG Jane Sinclair MD, DVM & Lieutenant JG Ted Silver & Lieutenant JG Thyra Sh'shraaqir & Captain Mazal Falk & Warrant Officer K'Muss

5,146 words; about a 26 minute read

Mission: S03 Ep 04 Captive State Part 1 (Main)
Location: Tomcat Briefing Room
Timeline: Current

[ON]

With all crew now in the briefing Colonel Somers quietened down the room by clearing her throat "Okay people we have us a new mission, but a few details first, our newest First Officer Lieutenant Commander Dodd will be leading the mission himself as I and two of you and some others will be going on a SAR mission, so we will be off the ship after this briefing Commander Dodd will give you your assignments which will take place when we arrive at our destination, but until then ship based duties will run as normal, now onto the briefing" Somers said and paused.

"It seems that along with the Fleet Captain an observation team has also gone missing in the system catalogued as UNExSys 569701, now while not much more detail is known about this system, exploration probes have detected a Class M planet and given it a designation of RH2020-4, beyond this and a humanoid species being detected on the planet we know nothing else. So we may be dealing with the Prime Directive so if this is the case then our next steps will have to be carefully taken" she paused as the rest of the probe data had finished downloading and being decrypted, Somers looked at her small screen and smiled.

"Okay, it seems we have a little more information, so I am opening up the floor to questions, do not be afraid to ask," Somers said leaning back in her seat she allowed questions so as the data had time to organise into a readable fashion.

Lamia looked towards the end of the table where Somers and Dodd were sitting. As Dodd was leading the briefing she directed her question to him. “Do we know anything about the Humanoid species on the planet? Have any observations been made?”

Looking at Arderne "Lieutenant Arderne I can answer that as I am the one giving the briefing, Commander Dodd will be leading the mission when I go on my SAR" Somers said, "As for the Humanoid species the scans indicate Human's or something close to them and it is a Pre-Warp Civilization and the planet is the same as the earth in the atmosphere, their society seems to be based on Ancient Greece or what Ancient Greece might have looked like had it made it into the 20th Century, as for finer ethos and the currency used we have no idea, but we will only be able to use the human-looking crew we have that even means Trill as their spots can be hidden, does that help with your question Lieutenant?" Somers asked Arderne.

"If I may interrupt, the culture is more Egyptian with some Greek and Celtic mixed in. But as for the human-looking crew, it is believed from the data file that the planet populous does not even know there are others in the universe." Dodd added. "Sorry ma'am, but wanted to get that out there," Dodd started to Somers.

Lamia nodded. “That’s all I wanted to know to thank you, Colonel, Commander” she smiled as she started making notes on her PADD.

"I have more details that I will share what I can after the colonel finishes and then I have even more data that will be shared with the away team when the time comes," Dodd added.

Patrick raised his hand and spoke up. "With due respect ma'am, if the Prime directive is in effect here, why is the Tomcat being sent? This is a warship. On the surface, I would think our resources would be better served looking for the Fleet Captain."

"Captain Jackson, the Tomcat is the only ship in the area that can get this mission underway as soon as possible. The Federation does not want to wait any longer on the mystery of what happened and the next available ship is more than a month away. Also, the Tomcat could use a little mission without being shot at by phasers or torpedoes." Dodd jumped right in to answer that question. "Sorry again, Ma'am," Dodd added to the colonel.

Looks at Dodd with a smile been looking at my briefing notes without my permission again Commander?" she jokingly chided her First Officer, there was a lot of learning to do on both sides, that was for sure.

"Sorry, Ma'am. I updated my PADD but apparently, it pulled in your briefing notes in error and read them in detail and so I know you still have more than the notes say but I will try to keep my mind focused and avoid picking up any thoughts you throw around." Dodd replied with a bashful smile.

Mazal was listening to what was going on, a SAR mission, she wondered who will be going, raising her hand, "With this SAR mission, who will be going, Ma'am, Sir? looking at both Somers and Dodd. "Or will that be made known fairly soon?" Her mind went back to some questions the Colonel had asked, in her skills in weaponry. They had spoken about whether she was able to use archaic weapons. Maybe Mazal would be part of this team to go after the Fleet Captain! Her heart began to beat more rapidly, as she waited, eagerly to get more details.

Matt stood, "I'll volunteer!" He said.

Ze looked around he hadn't quite gathered where he was going to be "Colonel with the SAR Mission will I be on the ship or with you I just need to clear that up?" he said trying to get things sorted in his head before he did or said something stupid.

Somers looks to the Chief of Operations "you will be on one of the Away Team I would assume, Commander Dodd will have the assignments ready by the time you reach your destination, hope that answers your question Lieutenant Ze?"

Ze smiled "thank you captain that answers my question" he returned his eyes to his PADD as he awaited the next part of the briefing where he would tell what team he would be on.

K'muss shot his hand up. "So if these guys believe that there aren't others in the universe. And humanoids can blend in, where do I come in. Naturally, they'd notice a giant cat," the marine said.

Looking at those who spoke, "thank you Mr Thompson but there will be a slight alteration to the SAR team I will be taking Warrant Officer K'Muss instead of Lieutenant Falk and I will also take Ensign Thyra as Commander Dodd will be running the mission while I am away he will want all human-looking personnel on his away teams."

"Understood," Thompson said sitting down.

Mazal looked over towards the colonel, actually feeling saddened at not being able to go with her on the rescue mission. Her eyes conveying that for the moment, then it faded as she understood what the colonel was getting at. "Aye Colonel whatever is necessary." Mazal giving a nod.

K'Muss nodded back. "I'll do good, Lieutenant," he said

"That is correct, the pending away team members for the mission ahead of us, must be human or human-enough to pass as human to the casual observer. The planet we are going to be visiting has no record of a belief in life off of their planet. So an eight-member away team will be going to the surface and we will do our best to blend them into the culture once we arrive after we scan the planet and the system." Dodd added to the briefing.

“Search and rescue teams will require medical personnel,” Jane Sinclair observed. “We don’t know what sort of condition we’ll find the Fleet Captain or the others in. They might be wounded or ill.” She spared a glance to her superior officer before looking back to the Colonel. “I have field experience.” She was sure that Dr Cahill did too, and did not want to step on a senior officer’s feet, but she wanted to volunteer.

Looking at the ACMO "Yes, so there is me, WO K'Muss, Major Donovan, Ensign Sh'shraaqir yourself Lieutenant Sinclair as our Medic and one or two other Rifles, the mission will be to get in there kill the enemy and get out again, I am not taking prisoners on this, they took the blood of my blood and they will pay" she collected herself "Ensign Thyra, sorry still having issues in pronouncing your surname "you will contact all your sources and get me the location of the Fleet Captain, got it?" Somers asked.

Jane nodded but remained silent. She was not exactly comfortable with ‘no prisoners’, but she wasn’t expected to kill. She was only expected to keep her people alive. And if there were wounded enemies, she would treat them too.

Thyra nodded to the colonel, her were still a bit droopy from being sleepy. She took a sip from her captain. "I will get on that...." She paused a moment as she could feel some eyes burn into her. "As soon as I get a nap after this."

This was every scientist's dream. To experience a new race of people and their culture. There was no way Ted was going to miss this. “You need a scientist on this away team. If it is ok I would like to go on the away team please.” Ted requested. Trying very hard to hide his excitement.

"Lieutenant Silver, you will be welcome to be part of the away team that is part of the mission the Tomcat will be conducting while the Colonel will be on her SAR mission," Dodd added.

If Ted had a tail it would be wagging now. He wanted to shake Dodd's hand but refrained. Instead, he gave a thumbs up.

“I’d like to volunteer for whichever away team requires my experience” Lamia smiled warmly.

Looking at Lamia "I think you are already are on one of the ground teams Lieutenant" Somers said looking at the Counsellor with a smile.

“Thank you Colonel” Lamia smiled warmly.

"That is correct, Ma'am, the counsellor would be a welcome member of the team unless she objects and doesn't want to go. There are a few guidelines for Starfleet for what personnel go on the away team but a counsellor is one of the acceptable professionals for the list." Dodd stated.

Raising her hand "I have a question, who is going to go with the group to find the Fleet Captain and who is going to fly the Tomcat?" Serina asked.

Looking at Donovan "Lieutenant for clarification Myself, Major Donovan, Lieutenant Sinclair, Ensign Sh'shraaqir and WO K'Muss, I will be piloting the Venture class scout I may take two extra Rifles, you will be needed for Commander Dodd's part of the mission," Somers said.

"Roger, Colonel," K'Muss replied

"Understood colonel," Serina said.

"Colonel, I'm up for going after the Fleet Captain," replied Paul as he knew that the Colonel was going to need some help and he owed the fleet captain for keeping him on after the crash, so this was his way of repaying the debt he owed.

Looks at Winchester "that is nice to know Lieutenant Winchester, but you will not be on the SAR team, you are assigned to Commander Dodd's Away Teams when he sets them up.

"So, should we assume mid or late 20th century-level military and computer technology? I just want to know if I'll need to work on masking our energy signature, emissions, or if we just need to worry about a simple polar orbit to use magnetospheric interference to hide us," Lt. JG Taggert asked.

It wasn't a difficult thing to do to mask signatures from centuries-old technological levels, but it simply meant that some scans and manoeuvres would need to be avoided or adjusted to help minimize detection. "And sorry to add on, but will you need any engineers? Just want to make sure to release anyone you need to get the Fleet Captain" Taggert added.

While Nicci wanted to go to the planet to explore something new, and even be the one to find her captain, she felt she needed to help make sure the ship was running solidly so that no one had to worry about any kind of emergency transport or shuttlebay doors jamming on an emergency evacuation or something. She felt torn inside on wanting to go down to the planet, but wanting to do what the Chief Engineer should be doing on the ship.

Cahill stood up "You know I am in on this mission Commander Dodd. I have never backed down during a mission and never will. I consider Fleet Captain Somers a friend as well as my CO. I also believe that I have to go even if I had never met someone that has been captured. I also have the medical skills if needed to work without all the modern medical items so many Starfleet doctors depend on. I can diagnose and treat it if needed" She said.

Looking around the table "okay people hear this while I am gratified to know you would all like to volunteer, I have my team, I have said who this team is, now it is time to move on with the mission briefing, UNDERSTOOD?" Somers asked losing her cool for a moment before she quickly regained control of her emotions "Sorry all, it is family and such is close to me and those on the SAR team will see a side of me that will give them nightmares, some of you may have seen my anger, but trust me, you have not seen my true anger" Somers said leaving it hanging there.

Lamia gave Somers a curious look, she understood the woman more now than she had since before their talk. She understood how important family was, she just hoped that the Colonel didn’t let her feelings cloud her judgement.

Nicci barely flinched, and merely raised an eyebrow as if she were a Vulcan at the outburst. She'd be pissed too when a family member was missing, so she understood Somers's reaction, oO I hope she understands that the crew feels strongly about the captain too and we're all just eager to help. We knew Dodd's got his crew, but we want to feel like we're doing something too to get us closer to her rescue. Oo

Cahill looked at LTC Somers, "Just be sure not to let your anger override good Judgment. You will still need a clear head to do this mission effectively. And you know I am speaking from a medical standpoint Col Somers as CMO.

And I do agree LT Sinclair is also capable of performing any medical duties needed if sent on an away team as well."

"I just want to have the SAR bring the Captain home alive. I owe her a great deal," Serina said.

"Colonel, if you get in any trouble, Call me," replied Paul, knowing full well that he had to gain some respect from her after the way he had treated her in this very room, as he finished" and come home safe both of you,"

Thyra was just quietly making notes. For some reason, the crew had gone into an emotional passionate rage and they all seemed to be eager to get the captain. In some way, she wanted to remind everyone that they were Starfleet officers and that they should perform their duties to the best of their abilities, no matter what they are. She simply sighed as she did not have the energy to respond to that. Her mind wandered off to what sources she could use to get the information they would need for the SAR mission.

Nicci got her stylus and her flex-PADD out, ready to write some notes as Dodd continued the briefing on the mission at hand, ready to note what engineering could do to move the mission forward and if she or one of her staff would be going down to the planet. She seriously hoped Lexi Branson, a Chief Warrant Officer just assigned to the ship, wouldn't be picked. She got under her skin, mostly because the two had a shared past and was more forward about it than Taggert.

Hawk had turned to Nicci as she had scanned her padd with the stylus. He closed his eyes and begun to think about what he had wanted. ‘The Tomcat needs you on the planet. I need Engineering to myself.’ The Deputy had faux telepathized

"I would like to address the fact that the colonel needs to be able to conduct this briefing and so we can get all the information out to you. I know you are all wanting to help find Captain Somers, but Colonel Somers had her tasks and I have mine that we have to get you all informed upon. Just know that whoever is chosen to help Colonel Somers on the SAR will have a separate briefing of their own as well those who will be on the major away team on the main mission ahead." Dodd addressed to all in the briefing room.

*Looks at Dodd with a thank you smile* "thank you, Commander, also a Padd with a recording of the briefing I was given will be on your desk in your quarters, so you will know what I know" Somers said.

"Thank you, Ma'am. I will review that PADD and sorry about the mix up on getting your briefing notes on my PADD by mistake." Dodd replied. "I do hope that everyone had a nice layover at Starbase 51. We will be hitting this mission running and I want you all to know that I am here to make sure we all work well together so come to me with any concerns at any time. While I am the acting CO during this mission, Dr Cahill will be my acting XO and one of the leaders on the away team going to the planet's surface. I would like to see Lt. Lee and Lt. Silver as our science representatives. Arderne for the Counsellor spot, Jackson as Co-Leader of the away team, then Kildare if we need to defuse any alarms or ordnances, a member of the security personnel and an engineer as the rest of the away team. The rest of you will be needed in your roles on the ship and I will need a backup team of five needed if we need to send a shuttle down and Lt. Taggert will oversee that team which will consist of two marines and two security personnel."

"Col Somers, Commander Dodd, what can you tell us specifically about the planet? We have probes, but do we know customs, language, dress, technology, that sort of thing?" Nicci asked. "If any of us, whoever gets picked to go, wants to succeed, we'll need to know how to blend in on this planet. I mean, how well can they really hide someone? I'm sure they have some kind of radio transmissions we can monitor, right?"

Sorry to keep talking, but I'm just voicing a few streams of thought going through my head right now. "If this planet's behind us technologically, then the Fleet Captain and any of the rest of us won't get the kind of care they'd get in our sickbay. I can work with fabrication to get some transporter locks worked up as jewellery or something to avoid cultural contamination, so we can get our people out more easily in case they've gotten hurt."

Looking at the new Chief Engineer "All I know for certain Lieutenant is that it is an earth-like environment, the timeframe is Pre-warp, it will be up to intelligence and Security to find out what the currency is and deeper information as probes will only give us so much from orbit. Currently, we do not know if the Fleet Captain and any other captives are on the planet, I would not think so as any aliens are likely to get hunted by the natives. But they are descended from humans that were transplanted from earth centuries ago, beyond that we do not know much. As for tracking locks use a skeletal lock on the away teams as any technology however native it looks they may have some tech that could detect it or our devices could interfere with theirs in some way, any other questions?" Colonel Somers asked looking around the room.

Nicci nodded in understanding. She would prefer using hidden transporter tag/signal enhancers/locks, but a skeletal lock would work without possibly contaminating the culture also.

"I do not have any other questions. I will though say this, be careful out there, Colonel. I do know that you are quite capable. Just come back." Mazal giving a sight smile. "Otherwise I'll be coming after you personally" Mazal added. Of course, she knew that the colonel was quite capable and would be unleashing the beast within. Mazal would have loved to have gone with her. As Mazal felt a connection of Kinship with her, a friendship there.

“I second that Colonel” Lamia smiled warmly at Somers. “We need you back here with us. Take care of yourself.”

Cahill replied, "No questions at this time COL Somers."

"Nothing else from me Col. Somers," replied Serina.

“All ok with me,” Ted said.

"Nothing from me" replied Paul as he wondered what Commander Dodd had planned for him as he knew that whatever it was he would follow the instructions, but if anything did go wrong he would improvise.

Hawksley slowly nodded at Colonel Somers. He did not have anything to contribute. However, he was happy to be involved in the information gathering aspect of the two upcoming away teams. Multiple Engineering tasks on the Tomcat needed constant calibration and reconfigurations for the types of set-ups required on the surface. Leland was pleased to be sitting beside Nikki. He would learn a lot from the Chief.

Jane sat silently, no further questions coming to mind.

With the change in status for the missions, Mazal was now turning her thoughts towards the meeting that she and Winchester will be having with the Colonel. Mazal mentally sighed, sure she spoke out of turn where Winchester was concerned, it's just that the man just was getting under her skin and not in a good way. She frowned slightly at her thoughts, was he going to become a problem for her or others? Mazal folded her arms across her chest and stayed quiet. She'll be finding out where she will be going on what away team soon enough.

Thyra took another sip from her coffee and put the empty mug down a bit disappointing. More because she was out of coffee than anything else. She raised her hand, "This may be the sleep talking, but these are two different missions unrelated to each other, right? Why do I get the feeling from the different discussions, that the crew seems to think that the fleet captain might be on this planet? While from the information we gathered no indication suggests that the disappearance of one is related to the other. Ooh, that is good coffee." She looked into her mug and then back to the colonel and the commander.

"Currently we have no idea where the Fleet Captain is being held Ensign, that will be up to you to find when you do let me know, no pressure there" *smiling* she looks around the room "for the record when we have the location, Lieutenant Sinclair, Ensign Thyra, WO K'Muss you will be on my SAR team, along with Major Donovan, who some of you new crew would not yet have met and a couple of Rifles, all other personnel will be assigned to Commander Dodd for this next mission, he now has all the information we have so he will read through it and then will brief the away teams as and when needed, I will need you to keep your minds on your tasks and not on the Fleet Captain and her fate, level that to me and my SAR Team, now I do not think there is much more to impart, so I will open up the room to any final questions," Somers said.

"How do we know she is missing at all, Colonel?" Thompson inquired.

Looking at Thompson "we know the Fleet Captain is missing Lieutenant Thompson because I took a small team out to her last location and we located the USS Nile adrift in space all sensor logs wiped, but most importantly I was on a call with the Fleet Captain when her ship was boarded, so the Captain has been taken and then the enemy will learn while they call me Red Death by the time I finished with them" she said anger creeping into her voice as she said the last bit. "apologies for the touch of anger, this is another reason Commander Dodd will be running the main mission, we need someone with a cooler head to do this, the mood I am currently in I would be too disruptive to the mission" Somers said.

"Understood LTC Somers, You know I am there no matter what I am asked to do. All I care about is the safety of all the ships crew. From the top to the Bottom. We are all important" Thompson responded.

Also as a reminder, I am the only one on the Tomcat that can relieve the Fleet Captain Somers till she is fit for duty. I will be firm but also be fair as well COL Somers. You know what I am getting at." Replied Cahill.

Mazal raised her hand, "I do have one question Colonel when we all get back may we have a celebration party when all is said and done?" Mazal flashing a grin. "A welcome home celebration."

Looking at the rifle Officer "yes, I will authorize it, but I do not think the Fleet Captain will be in the mood for such events, but I am not against celebrating, but as long as it is subdued and contained within the main mess hall" Somers responded.

"Agreed Colonel." Mazal giving a small smile, which broadened to a dazzling one. "I shall see about that with some help." then went quiet to do some planning.

Patrick reached forward and grabbed another cookie. He was not being assigned to the SAR team so he had minimal questions, with the only one he had been how he would help in the upcoming mission. That, he knew would be up to the Commander.

Dodd was making note of those that voiced interest in the upcoming mission. He still needed to get more data from the briefing the colonel had for him, but he would need a good team on this as he had to remain on the ship since he would be acting as the captain. The thoughts of curiosity were all over the place from the crew as this was a mission with uncertainty and the unknown was only certainty involved.

Lamia sat quietly any questions she had were already answered, she was happy to listen to what others wanted to know. She offered Remington a polite smile as she looked in his direction, she was interested in finding out what she would be assigned to do on the away team.

Since she was on the secondary shuttle team, Nicci made a few notes for herself. oO I should probably get one of my teams on the shuttles, make sure they're outfitted, and emissions-dampened to avoid as much detection as possible. Oo

"One last question. Do you prefer that we prep a Type 11 or Type 20 shuttlecraft? The 11 is smaller and can carry the entire team, but the 20 is more rugged and could carry more equipment. Just want to go ahead and start prepping what I can," Nicci said with a nod to her former Chief.

Serina had been going over in her headways of tracking teams when it hit her, "Veridian patches along with skeletal locks! It would make our people stand out as well. Wouldn't it?" she said. *looking at Dodd*

"I would recommend you beam down to a secluded area, as then there is less of a chance of the shuttle being detected" Somers suggested as she looked at Dodd with a raised eyebrow.

"I do think beaming down would be best, but a shuttle on back-up would be the plan. Taggert, my call would be to use the shuttle that already has the stealth shielding installed from the last mission. It should be all up to date and just maybe needs to be restocked for the mission. As for Veridian patches and skeletal lock, good idea Donovan. However, I also would like a thorough medical scan of the away team and then have them inoculated for all primitive pathogens that ancient humans may have been exposed to that are no longer viable on Earth. I don't want to contaminate the planet either, so we all need to have the away team be fully vetted and only those with a one hundred per cent clear bill of health will be included. I know that this is a pre-warp civilization and when we get closer we will be able to get more from scans to see the level of technology we are dealing with." Dodd replied.

Feeling like a fool after having blurted out, Serina decided it was time to shut up, and did so for the rest of the briefing.

Mazal leaned over to where K'Muss could hear her. "You make certain you keep a good eye on the Colonel and the others okay?"

K'Muss simply nodded but remained silent.

Somers looked around and no one else had anything to ask "okay if that is it, then you are all dismissed, Commander will be reading up on what we know and will respond accordingly after we arrive at our destination, Lieutenants Winchester and Falk, you pair remain, the rest of you dismissed" Somers said and watched all the officers leave the briefing room, this left her and only two others.

TBC in "A Brief Talk" JP

[OFF]

Lieutenant Colonel Alexandria Somers [P: Somers]
Acting CO

Lieutenant Commander Remington Dodd
First Officer

Lieutenant Commander Alexanderia Cahill MD
Chief Medical Officer/2XO

Lieutenant Jg. Paul Winchester
Chief of Security/Tactical

Lieutenant Lamia 'Mia' Arderne
Chief Counsellor

Lt. Jg Nicole Taggert
Chief Engineer

Lt Jg Leland Hawksley
Assistant Chief Engineering Officer

Ensign Thyra Sh'shraaqir
Chief Intelligence Officer

Lieutenant Matthew Thompson
Chief Science Officer

Lieutenant Jg Torsol Ze
Chief Operations Officer

MCapt Patrick Jackson
Marine Commanding Officer

Lieutenant Jg Ted Silver
Assistant Chief Science Officer

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

2nd Lt Mazal Falk
Marine Executive Officer

Lt Jg Jane Sinclair
Deputy Chief Medical Officer

Warrant Officer K'Muss
Rifles SNCO

 

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