Departure Brief

Posted on 27 Jul 2009 @ 4:50pm by Commodore Da`nal of the House of Varal & Colonel Stadi Andrus

1,401 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: M2: Aggressive Negotiations
Location: Briefing Room

Da`nal was looking over the intel Captain Patterson had sent him on the activities in the NZ. The thought of this incident escalating into a full blown war was becoming more and more real. If the Merlin failed the Freedom would be on its own in Romulan space and even if the Merlin's activities were labeled as an unauthorized retaliation it was unlikely Starfleet would handover Patterson for trial nor would the Romulans likely accept the consequences of a Federation court martial.

Putting the padd down he stood staring out the window, not noticing the activity of the docking bay, as he waited for his department heads to arrive.

Mari, ever punctual, arrived to the briefing room and stepped inside the door, studying the captain for a moment before making her presence known, "Buenas, Capitan. I take it the news is not good news."

"Depends on how you look at it. One thing is for sure, its going to keep us on our toes"


Elek stepped in momentarily after Mari - a happy accident. He gave her fingers a squeeze before nodding to Da'nal's back.

"Captain," he said simply as he sat.

Mari gave Elek a slight and brief smile as well as a nod, moving once he had and taking a seat nonchalantly beside him.

T'Pal followed shortly after Mari, reading data on her padd as she walked in. With a brief general greeting, she took a seat.

Saraya walked through the door and nodded to T'Pal and laying her PADD on the table, she took a seat beside the security officer.

Lita quietly entered, she had never sat in on a senior officer breifing and was feeling a little nervous about being here.

Melanie came in and sat quietly. She had been working hard on keeping Casiday stable and she was emotionally and physically exhausted.

Elek leaned forward and nudged Mari. "Want to meet for lunch later?" he whispered.

Turning and giving Elek a smile and a nod, Mari whispered back, "Si, definitely."

Max walked in, just getting out of engineering. He was running a few tests on possibly enhancing the energy output. The tests looked rather promising, for now. Though he might have to wait to test his theories, now that it seemed his time had run out. He looked around to see who all was there, as he sat down. A few faces were still unfamiliar to him. He nodded to a few around him, as he sat down at the end of the left side of the table.

C.J. stepped through the door's into the briefing room and froze, seeing the entire staff already assembled. Great, he thought, I'm late. He quickly found an empty seat and sat down.

Andrew Fienneman stepped through the door, talking over his shoulder to the Yeoman briefly, before stepping in completely and letting the doors slide shut behind him. He looked out over the staff for a moment, before spotting Commander Da`nal by the viewport.

"As you were." Fienneman piped up, quieting the room before taking a seat in the chair to the Commander's right and waiting quietly for Da`nal to begin the briefing.

Turning as Andrew silenced the chatter, he nodding to his XO. "Thank you.

By now I'm sure most of you have met our First Officer. Now that the chain of command is finally complete you can all finally bother him and leave me alone for once," he said jokingly.

Mari glanced at Elek and gave a half-smile in response to Da`nal's words. She couldn't help the slightly bitter thought that the chain of command *had* been complete...but it wasn't good enough for the captain...Regardless, she turned her attention back to the head of the table and tried to keep her mind tuned to the conversation.

Taking his seat he looked out at the officers assembled. "The last time most of us met here we were about to head into battle. It is possible we could be doing so again. All of you know that we will be heading into Romulan space to take the ambassador, and our other >guest to Romulus for the hearings on the attack on Deep Space 5. What most of you are not aware of is that there has been a change in the overall situation.

The USS Merlin has discovered what appears to be a Romulan base near the Neutral Zone. It is believed that this base is a rebel faction and possibly the staging point for the DS5 attack. The Merlin has been authorized to enter the NZ and take out the encampment.

"During there engagements will will be in Romulan space. Should the Merlin fail. All official knowledge of there actions will most likely be disavowed. Now while our presence has been authorized by the Romulan Senate. Should the Merlin fail we could very likely be subject to retaliatory strikes.

"Mr. McPherson have you found a way to 'camouflage' the Freedoms systems?"

"I have an interestin' theory.....Nothin' definitive tho'.... I was thinkin, we could mask the energy of th' ship by using a static shield, which MAY hide our energy signature. Only problem is, is that if we have to go to a tactical alert.....We'll be defensless as long as the makeshift shield is around us. I'm nae even sure it's goin' te actually work anyhow." He said, with a shrug of defeat. He had been working on a theory for days, but most of his research always led him back to hiding behind a comet, or blanketing the energy by the orbit of a sun. They wouldn't have either of those options available where they were going. The static shell was only a theory he was working on, in his spare time.

"Well it had been a shot in the dark anyway, but keep tying."

"Aye, Captain. I'll see what else I can scrounge up, and let you know as soon as I do." He said, as he went back to studying the monitor which held the regions layout, on the far wall.

"T'Pal weapons status?"

"Weapons systems are ready. Torpedo's are armed and the phazer banks are loaded. Long range and short range sensors fully operational," she reported.

"The torpedoe upgrades are complete as well?"

"Indeed, this time they are ready," she said

"Excellent. Now if we find ourselves in battle I will not allow this ship to fall into enemy hands. I want security teams posted throughout the ship; bridge, engineering, sickbay, all critica areas." He knew he didn't have to list every place, but a part of him was wanting to get his hands dirty, having been a security chief himself, but now he had to let his people do their jobs.

"Acknowledged," she said and with a sideways glance acknowledged his slight frustration. Any warrior would want to be hands on and in the middle of the fray. "The security teams are running drills as it is," she added.

"Lt. Cranz, I want auxillery generator brought online and kept ready incase we need the additional power."

"Fienneman, I have requested a pilot for the Liberator (the aerowing class shuttle)." Looking to CJ as he could help but notice the his expression. "That is no criticism of your abilities DeHavilland, just that you will be needed at the helm so a top notch pilot and crew will need to be put together. Once he..or she report aboard I want some rapid deployment simulations worked up. As well as joint ship maneuvers."

"The crew will be in place when needed." Fienneman replied.

CJ looked to Fienneman and then to Da`nal, wanting to protest. He knew it wouldn't get him anywhere, so he just nodded, but he would definately be taking things up with Fienneman once this meeting was over.

"Good." Da`nal looked out to the rest of the senior staff. "Keep your people informed and sharp. Once we enter Romulan space we have to keep our wits and be ready for anything. Prepare for departure. Mr. Fienneman sound the recall and get everyone back onboard the ship."

"Aye, sir." Andrew replied, nodding curtly.

"Dismissed"


-------------------------------------------

Commander Da`nal
Commanding Officer

Lt. Cmdr Andrew Fienneman
XO

LT John McPherson
Chief Engineer

Ens. Lita Masterson
Acting CIO

Lt T'Pal
CSEC

Lt. Melanie Hemmingway
CMO

Ltjg. "CJ" DeHavilland
CFCO

 

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