Arrival Briefing

Posted on Sat May 19, 2018 @ 7:57pm by Commodore Michael Aravan & Captain Madelina Weisz & Lieutenant Colonel S'er'in'e & Lieutenant Commander Arrda & Lieutenant Martha Cusack & Lieutenant Commander Kelani Tetanal & Lieutenant Commander Alex Rho & Master Chief Petty Officer Thomas Barnes
Edited on on Fri May 3, 2019 @ 9:25pm

Mission: Falling Star
Location: Conference Room
Timeline: MD 34 || 1000 Hours

As the Triumphant approached Cassandara, Commodore Aravan got up from his chair and summoned all the officers to the conference center on deck nine, turning the conn over to an Ensign. He exited the bridge via the turbolift and headed down. What they had gotten from the database of the Two For Flinching was invaluable, but he didn't know how much it could be trusted. For that, he depended heavily on his medical and science staff to tell him what he needed to know.

He entered the conference center and activated the viewscreen to show the planet and looked at the Romulan Ambassador as she entered. "Ambassador Caenala," he greeted her. "You'll be pleased to know that we've obtained information about the virus and a potential cure. I'd like for you to be present while we discuss it."

"Of course, Commodore," Valasa said as she moved to take a seat. She had her ever present Romulan PADD with her and glanced at it while she waited for the others.

Venus entered the conference room not quite herself. Her appearance was slightly disheveled as if she was in a hurry. Even her hair, normally a stickler for regulations, flowed past her shoulders.

She was attempting to fasten up her jacket when her eyes caught the Romulan ambassador. She froze, startled, flashbacks of the past and Ekkhae flooded her mind. The Chief Engineer gazed toward her commanding officer which brought her back to the here and now. "Sorry, Commodore, I was busy with repairs." She took her seat as far removed from the ambassador as possible though her eyes remained on the Romulan.

Douglas turned his StratTac table over to his third in command -- his second was on the bridge -- and made his way to the briefing center as ordered. So far, nothing untoward had needed his attention in regards to the current mission. He was still, hidden from the outside, annoyed with the situation that had been brought to his attention; but he would deal with that as he could. Right now, he had been summoned, and he answered.

Entering the briefing center several minutes later, he glanced over the crew already present then took his customary chair toward one end of the table. Seating himself, he nodded to the Rihansu ambassador as well as the Chief Engineer and the Commodore, took out a PADD and waited for whomever else was to come in silence.

Kelani arrived, PADD in hand, gave a respectful nod to those present, and took a seat, waiting for the briefing to begin.

As she waited, she went over the progress that had been made in her department’s research.

Miki slipped quietly into the room and, after a quick glance around the table, chose the vacant chair that seemed in the position of least prominence, well down the table from its head. She could tell she wasn't late, although it did take her a few minutes to find the right place, and the last thing she wanted to do was draw the attention of the Commodore, who had since her arrival and the disaster of her initial presentation seemed none-too-happy to see her. Setting herself down, she listened intently to Kelani's report, pairing the voice to the face for future reference.

From her spot to the right of the Commodore's chair, Maddy looked over the faces of the others present. Settled on the table in front of her was a PADD that contained a few notes she'd already taken with more to join as time progressed. She kept her gaze on the Ambassador, still unable to trust the woman, but she couldn't figure out why that way. If there was a true reason not to trust the Romulan woman, it would be revealed in time, and hopefully by then, it wouldn't be too late.

Martha was next to enter the conference room whilst clutching a flask of tea in one hand and a PADD in the other to take notes. Pausing in the doorway and scanning the room for available seats Martha selected her preferred seat and sat down in it.

Tom wasn't the last to arrive. The moment he walked in the door holding a pad and a cup of coffee, he nearly froze in the entrance. Not a word could be said, and it seemed like no one wanted to be there. Undoubtedly, the events from the days prior had been unsettling to everyone. After all there was nothing like being in unfriendly territory and getting shot at while trying to render humanitarian aid. "Good morning, everyone," Tom said as he approached the table to take his seat.

Looking up after hearing a familiar voice Martha responded to the Operations Chief's greeting.

"Good morning" Martha responded.

Ah, life! "Lieutenant," Tom replied, sitting down. He looked around the table. Given the silence from everyone else, the chief was left to wonder who had died.

When the doors parted for S'er'in'e, once again ducking under to avoid hitting his head he took in the parties present, several officers and one Romulan. The latter being an interesting addition but what was more pressing was the gathering of females.

S'er'in'e had just bonded to Kasia, as such his mind and nose was still sensitive to the scents of other females, a slight bow towards the table aimed at the females present before he went to stand next to the windows away from them. It was hard for him to be unnoticed, a wall of uniform as tall as he was, even if he was trying to be less noticeable next to the windows. He placed his hands behind him, facing the group but staying silent.

Alex entered, later than he'd planned, with a PADD in hand. He took a quick look around the room after the doors closed. "Somber," he said. "Maybe I should've brought a bouquet or something to give to a family member." Alex walked over and took a seat next to Barnes. He leaned over and whispered, "So who's Targ got radiated in the warp core?"

Antonio walked in with PADD in hand and took a seat quickly. He brought with him a status update in case it was asked of him but almost right away he could feel the mood was grim. As he looked around taking note of the other officers he picked out one unknown individual that looked out of place.

"I think only a Klingon would get upset by a Targ," Tom remarked to the Chief of Intel, thankful at least someone else was in a pleasant enough mood. "But only if it didn't enhance the Targ's hunting ability."

Alex grinned. "I think you have a very good point there, Master Chief. A Klingon would like that indeed."

Maddy sat with her eyes closed and her head resting against the back of her chair while she waited for the meeting to officially start. In her head, or what she thought was in her head, she began singing a song she heard long ago. "I was gonna clean my room until I got high. I was gonna get up and find the broom, but then I got high. My room is still messed up, and I know why. 'Cause I got high," she sang, decided to put her own twist on the next verse. "I was gonna help save Cassandara today, but then I got high. I was gonna read all the reports, but then I got high. Now my desk is a mess and I know know why. 'Cause I got high. Because I got high. Because I got high."

Michael was about to page the Chief of Flight when he heard Maddy singing. He stopped with his hand halfway to his combadge and slowly looked over as he heard the lyrics. He blinked, then blinked again as he tried to think of a response, but failed.

Douglas had been going over some security details on his PADD when his ears picked up on the commander's singing. He lowered the PADD and looked over at her, her expression indicating that she was in her own little world. He recognized the song; his family had been on Earth when that song had come out, and it had been fairly popular. He had not, however, expected (a) anyone now to know it, especially Captain Weisz or (b) for her to sing it here and now. So, sadly, he was asa lost for a response as Commodore Aravan. After all, what did one say to that? He decided not to try and went back to reading his PADD. Interesting crew... he thought not for the first time as he continued his reading.

Venus remained seated, straight back, arms crossed as the senior officers began trickling in. The Caitian Marine caught her eye immediately; his size, his fur..the only nonhumanoid she had seen thus far so even with the Romulan in the room, it captivated her. Distraction had its perks but the Captain actually began singing was something totally unexpected from the spit and polish engineer. "Captain..." She stopped short of quoting some obscure regulation pertaining to narcotics.

Tom's grin held its ground, despite the fact that he too was surprised by Maddy's sudden inspiration to sing. "Commodore, sounds like the crew's got a bit of cabin fever." It wasn't too far from the truth really. Ever since the Triumphant crossed the Romulan border, a certain uneasiness had been floating throughout the vessel. No matter what the relationship between the two governments currently stated, the Romulans and the Federation had been long-standing foes. Perhaps this planet would serve as the Praxis for the Romulan Star Empire and things would finally change.

"For the record," Maddy began, opening her eyes to look at those present. "It's just a song. I'm not on any kind of drugs, nor have I ever been." The truth was, she was an upstanding Starfleet officer, and didn't do much that would ever get her into any kind of trouble.

Douglas looked up from his PADD at Captain Weisz' words. "For the record, Ma'am," he began with a smile, using the same opener as she had, "I didn't think you were. You did surprise me though." he admitted.

Tom just chuckled, thinking he could make a remark that alluded to his and Maddy's relationship as a drug. Alas, there was a time and place for everything and this was not it. He almost even seconded the security chief's remark in regards to the surprise, but that fell under the time and place category as well.

Michael took note of the disheveled appearance of the Chief Engineer and that Maddy had stopped singing. He was about to respond when his Yeoman interrupted to let him know the Chief of Flight would be delayed as they had problems with getting clearance to orbit the planet.

Finally, he sighed. "If everyone is done having fun, and yes, I know what that means, we need to get down to business. During the ambush in the nebula, we obtained a copy of the Two For Flinching's database. It had the chemicals of the attack on Cassandara on it as well as a cure for it. However, with the delay and a lack of a patient from Cassandara, we will be working overtime on producing the cure for it. Maddy, if you'd put it on the display, please."

As requested, Maddy put the information on the display screen so everyone could see it at once.

While this mission was, generally speaking, a science-heavy one, Douglas took nothing for granted. He did not have a background in Sciences, but he listened anyway. His eyes kept watch on the ambassador as well, though subtly, even as he paid attention to what was being displayed.

Zeke entered the room in the middle of the brief, softly muttering to himself about 'Absurd orbiting vectors and something about Romulan inertial patterns' he moved to the first available seat at the table and focused on the XO.

On the screen, chemical compounds appeared as well as what was listed as a counter for the chemical attack. Dates were also listed for the capital city of Cassandara and two more cities that had yet to be attacked.

Michael looked at the data, then at the Ambassador. "It looks like we may be able to prevent two more attacks, Ambassador."

"I shall contact my people to let them know," Valasa said. "With your permission, Commodore."

"We'll do that after the meeting," he responded before he looked around. "Lieutenant Mallory, I want you and Colonel S'er'in'e to work in tandem getting to the other locations. Anyone at those sites can be considered hostile, but the priority is to prevent the next attacks from happening."

Douglas noted the locations on his PADD. "Do we have any data on where they intend to release the chemicals from in these two locations?" he asked, hoping they wouldn't just have to search two whole cities. That could end very badly if the enemy set off their attack before he and S'er'in'e found their location.

"There's a rough idea, but once Ambassador Caenala contacts her people, we'll know more," Michael said.

Douglas nodded, acknowledging the information. He was mulling over in his mind which of his questions to ask next when the Marine CO spoke up.

"Do we have any additional, updated information about hostile forces, tactical capability, equipment, favoured tactics?" S'er'in'e asked from his side of the room. "Any history about their cause would also help, motivation can be a vital tool to a cause and exploited by an aggressor if needed."

Douglas nodded to himself. Those were very good questions. Only some of them had been on his list, though, and he made a note to brush up on his older Arbiter/Diplomatic training which really dealt with the questions of motivation. For now, though, he turned his eyes back to the commodore to see what he had to say in response to the questions.

Michael shook his head. "Not at the moment, so your teams will have to be on full alert," he said. "Be prepared and take environmental suits on your teams even though everyone should be vaccinated against the chemicals by then."

"Lieutenant Giovanni, work with Lieutenant Tetanal to get those cures verified and replicate as much as you can."

"Understood." Antonio's thickly italian accented voice spoke. He knew that he'd have to get the vaccine tested as no doctor would give medication he or she was unsure about and that meant a lot of work prior to arrival.

"Aye,sir," Kelani replied, having succeeded in keeping her countenance during Maddy's song. "I will brief my people as soon as possible and consult with Lieutenant Giovanni as soon as possible."

"Mister Rho, I want you and Master Chief Barnes to monitor all the frequencies and determine if there's more attacks scheduled," Michael continued.

"Consider it done, Commodore," Tom said with a nod. As much as he liked to help, he liked the idea of staying out of the mix and just keeping an eye on things.

"Easily enough, sir," replied Alex. He glanced over to Tom and nodded. This would also give him a chance to follow-up on their previous conversation and...assignment. A thought hit he wondered if the Master Chief would like to see what kind of help the Intel Signals Analysis department could be in monitoring the frequencies. Without looking back to Tom or entering his mind, Alex communicated with him. Master Chief, how would you like a chance to see how out Signals Analysis department can help with that monitoring?

Tom tried not to flinch when he heard the Intel Chief's voice in his mind. He'd only done it once before, and definitely not enough for Tom to be used to it. Not well versed enough in the art of telepathic communication, he shot Alex a quick glance before mentally replying, Sounds like fun, Lieutenant.

Alex nodded without another telepathic word.

"Lieutenant Matsutaki, be prepared for very distraught survivors," Michael said. "Romulans are very prone to be emotional as well all know and you and your staff will have your work cut out for you."

Miki nodded, "Hai, I'll look into current workload, reorganize current appointments as necessary, then assign 40 or so counselors in 8 10-man rotations to the task. It's well and good, truly, to give all the assistance we can to the refugees, but we still have a duty of care to our own crew."

"Mister Stone, you'll be in charge of ferrying supplies and the away teams to the planet. Captain Weisz, you'll be in charge of the main site," Michael said. "Lieutenant Cusack, keep an active eye out for any more hostiles that approach Cassandara. They've already proven themselves with the mercenary fleet and may return. Lieutenant Quinnell, what's the status of the repairs?"

Venus leaned forward, lacing her fingers together on the table. "Arrangement with Lieutenant Cheshire - hopefully continued under her successor - with my technicians and her maintenance personnel being crosstrained. Her people have been assisting my staff and I can report that critical repairs are all but completed Secondary systems should all be operational by the end of this day. A few replicators and other luxuries will require complete refurbishment. These I regard as a nuisance concern and can be dealt with at a port of call. The attack did not create any issues with the Tricore so we still have full power potential. The damaged gel packs and conduits are done so energy to the various systems should now be stable . The hull breach forcefields are holding and area environment sealed. Any hull repairs will require a starbase or facility."

"Sir," Zeke said, "If we're moving civilians via shuttles, I'd like some air cover, request permission sorte some of the fighter pilots from the CAG group for support in case?" he wondered if saying that made him seem cowardly but if he had innocent people to transport safely to and fro, he was going to try and take every precaution.

"That's fine with me," Michael said. "The others will be on patrol around the planet and ship."

"Understood sir," Zeke said and then began writing some of the mission details on a data pad.

"Yes, sir," Maddy said, wondering what kind of trouble was waiting for them. Still, orders were orders, and she followed those without question unless it was something that went against everything she stood for.

Martha listened to her instructions from Michael and looked up in his general direction to respond. Martha was still having issues with direct eye contact although it was improving now she was starting to settle in on the Triumphant.

Martha nodded. "Yes Commodore"

"Questions?" Michael asked.

Tom shook his head. After all, he had it easy, just watching the sensors and listening to comm traffic. Though, with what Maddy ran him through last night left Tom wondering if there was more to this than the Commodore was letting on. He'd have to find out about that later.

Miki stretched an arm forward, and rapped on the table with the tips of two of her fingers, indicating in as unobtrusive a manner as she knew that she had something to ask.

As soon as the gesture drew the Commodore's eye, she began, "Sir, two questions, if I may... forgive me if the answer to either of these should be obvious... Do we have any indication of how many survivors we will be taking on board, and where will they be housed while they are with us?"

The gentle rapping on the surface of the table was slightly irritating and Michael wondered how the Counselor had gotten attention when she was at the Academy. "At the moment, no," he said. "I'm waiting on a message with an update from the Governor of Cassandara. At the last count, there were over three thousand civilians killed in the attack and another estimated ten thousand that have been injured as a result. We have the capacity to take on twenty-three thousand, but that's only if all quarters are shared. Our medical facilities and cargo bays should contain everyone required that cannot be treated on the planet."

~Well, that answers my questions,~ Kelani thought, then turned her attention to S’er’in’e as he began to speak.

S'er'in'e listened to the question and the answer that followed. "I would advise against bringing large quantities of people on board. The enemy could easily place some of its willing own amongst the casualties, strike at the help, turn one casualty into many." He mentioned it because its what he would do. He was aware that was more security's department but since they were working together, he felt it prudent to mention. "As uncivilised as the notion is, these attacks have proven they are desperate and desperation can cause for some radical and far reaching actions from the devout believers of a cause."

"We'll treat as many as we can on the planet," Michael said. "In the extreme cases, we'll have to bring them aboard. Also, I have every faith in the Marines and Security keep the ship secure."

"If there's no further questions, start to work on the cure, organize the away teams and get ready for overwhelming numbers," the Commodore said. "Dismissed."

Kelani gathered her PADD and prepared to leave, her mind already working on testing the antidote/vaccine.