First Foundations (Mission Brief)
Posted on 28 Nov 2017 @ 6:54pm by Captain Akio Tachibana & Major Terrance West & Lieutenant Ren Kannu (Dec-Jan 2389 - TRNSFR to Bre'el Dip. Msn.) & Lieutenant Commander Darren Marian (Dec-Jan 2389 - WIA-TRNSFR to XFY Medical) & Lieutenant Nimh Ahressa (Dec-Jan 2389 - TRNSFR, Bre'el Dip. Msn.) & Captain Jason Kage (Dec-Jan 2389 - TRNSFR, Camp Revenant) & Lieutenant Deeli Kosu (Dec-Jan 2389 - TRNSFR After Gorn War) & Lieutenant Junior Grade Sthilg, M.D. (Dec-Jan 2389 - MIA after Battle of Canterra) & Lieutenant Junior Grade Gidassa Thomas (Dec-Jan 2389 - TRNSFR to Bre'el Dip. Msn.) & Lieutenant Zim Salmon, Ph.D. (Dec-Jan 2389-TRNS, Bre'el Dip. Msn)
Mission:
He ho'omaka hou 'ana - A New Beginning
Location: Bridge - Deck 1
Timeline: 25 Dec 2388
ON:
Akio had entered the bridge with the XO.
"Captain on the bridge!" announced an Ensign.
"As you were," Akio said as he looked at the center seats.
This was the most full Akio had seen the bridge. Up til this point, it was largely Engineering personnel working on panels. Yet, the Hawaii was starting to get in gear, Akio could tell.
"1MC," Akio commanded the Ensign at Operations. Boy, this junior crew was making him nervous. Although, the Ensign at least knew 1MC, short for 1 Main Circuit, meant the ship's public address system.
"This is the Captain," Akio announced, "All personnel be ready to depart dry dock within 2 hours. Senior staff report for a briefing at the top of the hour. I would like to take a moment to thank you for a wonderful ceremony today. I look forward to serving with you all."
Akio pressed a button on the arm rest of the Captain's seat to cut the feed. He looked at Darren.
"You have the bridge," Akio stated as he strolled into the Ready Room.
"Aye, sir," Darren said, bowing his head slightly to the Commander to acknowledge the handover and settling into his chair. "Okay, people," he said, addressing the bridge, "You heard the Commander. Let's make sure we're shipshape and ready for departure. Chiefs, make sure your departments are fully prepared and then let's get over to the conference room." He pulled his console toward him and began to cycle through status reports.
"Aye, sir." Ahressa swivelled in her chair from her station then swivelled back, fingers dancing across the console, requesting all of her personnel on duty to send ready updates to the CiC where she would collate them and prepare a report for the Briefing.
CO's Ready Room
Akio sat down and looked at his messages. As expected, there were half a dozen from Starfleet Command, yet a high priority message caught his eye: 'MISSION ORDERS'.
FROM: STARFLEET OPERATIONS
TO: CDR TACHIBANA, USS HAWAII COMMANDING
RE: MISSION ORDERS
1. REPORT TO GORN FRONT AND COMMENCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, & RECONNAISSANCE OPERATIONS.
2. RENDEZVOUS WITH USS WYOMING AND FORM SPACE ACTION GROUP HAWAII.
3. CONTACT BRE'EL TO ASCERTAIN AVAILABILITY OF TRANSPORT/SUPPLY VESSELS.
4. RELAY ALL INTELLIGENCE TO STARFLEET VIA TF93 INTELLIGENCE CHANNELS, S.F.I. - DELPHI.
5. RENDEZVOUS WITH XAVIER FLEET YARDS TO ASSESS OPERATIONAL CAPABILITY.
6. RULES OF ENGAGEMENT ARE TO ENGAGE ALL HOSTILE ACTIONS.
7. TWO MARINE SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMPANIES OF 3D MARINE RAIDER REGIMENT ARE DEPLOYED W/HAWAII. SUPPORT SFMARSOC MISSION AS REQUIRED.
Attached to the message were several intelligence requirements and questions along with a map.
Well, their mission was set, although in typical Starfleet fashion, it was up to Akio and the rest of the crew to figure out how to execute their orders. He was at least glad that Starfleet had enough sense to give broad enough orders without tying their hands. Akio hated working for micromanagers.
Bridge
Ren’s hands danced over his console, as he secured his station before he stood up and began to head to towards the conference room door. He stopped short, moved aside, and allowed Lieutenant Nimh to enter first, “After you, Lieutenant.” He said with a smile.
Senior Staff Conference Room
Kage arrive minutes later, his dress uniform replaced by the standard Marines uniform with a kleegat on his belt. He saluted quickly, "Commander, sorry for taking so long to report."
"At ease and sit down Kage. The Commander isn't here yet," sounded the deep voice of West.
Walking into the Conference Room with a PADD before her, she mutters about schematics of some tubes and circuits that did not add up towards the systems in the ship. Deeli walked towards her chair and did not react towards anyone already in the room and just sat down.
Dr Salmon entered, with Lt Thomas right behind him. The short, brown Quim and the relatively tall Orion made for an interesting color contrast coming in the room. They both picked seats and sat, setting PADDS on the table to reference.
The ship's MD hurried through the door. " Apologiesss for being late had to sssign or the last batch of medical sssupplies." He said as he took his seat.
Ahressa arrived next, taking in the extremely diverse make up of the crew. She nodded to Kage, Kosu and Stihlg, the Senior Staff she'd met so far and took a seat next to Kosu. Operations and Engineering usually sat side by side. Again keeping her thoughts structured and focused, lest her pretense be uncovered by the young woman next to her. She'd never met a Quim though and was quite curious about the otter-like creature.
After making sure the bridge was in order, Darren walked over to the conference room. He was glad to see most of the senior staff had already arrived. He took his seat next to the Commander's place at the head of the long conference table.
Ren glanced around the room, giving it a visual inspection as he wandered to a free seat and parked himself down at the Conference Room desk.
On the dot, Akio entered the room as everyone rose.
"Please, take your seats," Akio said as he sat down at the head of the table.
"I appreciate your work in getting the ship in service. I have received our orders from Starfleet," Akio continued as he pushed some buttons. A map was projected onto the screen:
"This is the latest intelligence assessment of the area," Akio explained.
"We are to rendezvous with the USS Wyoming, a Steamrunner-class vessel, who has been patrolling the area. They will serve as our escort and assist us in carrying out our mission.
"We are also to make contact with Bre'el to determine the availability of their supply/transport vessels.
"Currently, our mission is to obtain intelligence of the Gorn Order of Battle; however, we are to engage any hostile actions.
"Following our collection efforts, we are to rendezvous with Xavier Fleet Yards to assess its operational capability to serve as a base of operations for the Gorn Campaign.
"OPS," Akio turned to Nimh, "Work with CONN to draw up a course for each of our waypoints. You will have to contact the Wyoming to ascertain their location. I think a week-long collection tour is enough, but work with INTEL to see if she needs more time to assess these questions."
Ahressa nodded. "Yes, sir."
Akio passed a PADD to Thomas that included the intelligence requirements. Akio then clicked another button and the screen changed to images of Gorn vessels.
"Thank you sir." Lt Thomas scanned down the PADD, making notes on her own unit as she went on particular points.
"Unfortunately, the attacks on Xavier Fleet Yards occurred quickly and intelligence reporting on actual vessels are spotty at best. These are the latest intelligence reports on what Gorn vessels looked like 10 years ago; however, assessments are that the Gorn have upgraded their vessels to be on par with the Federation in both firepower and speed. Unfortunately, we don't know what they look like now, though, yet do not expect boxy ships like we learned at the Academy."
Ahressa caught herself a few times, keeping her thoughts in check. There were avenues to talk to. People who have more information. One prevalent thought though was, "why send a ship out there and not fully inform them?" Nimh's gut clenched.
Akio turned to Zim, "Science, I need you to work with Engineering and Intelligence to determine what we may be up against in terms of Gorn sensor ranges and weapons capabilities."
"Of course, sir" Dr. Salmon piped quickly. His whiskers were actually a little drooped, denoting how serious he was taking the mission and the tasks at hand.
"Are there any questions about the mission brief?" Akio looked to West to see if any of this conflicted with the marine orders. He wasn't sure what was scarier: the fact he had so many senior staff with classified backgrounds or that he now had a special forces unit on his ship with a secret mission.
Intelligence and patrolling, of course how could it be different from her previous assignment. Not only did they pick her for the great knowledge in Engineering, but also her covert experience of the Redguard. Deeli took a deep breath and tried to keep calm.
"Sir, how's it possible we're ten years behind on visual recognition of Gorn vessels?" Ahressa spoke, then glanced at Thomas, "I mean no disrespect, Lieutenant to your profession, however it seems lax on our part to be that much out of the loop."
"Great question, Lieutenant. From the reports I have pored over, this is my assessment, and Lieutenant Thomas, feel free to correct me. You certainly have access to greater information. In 2379, the Gorn invaded Cestus and Canterra and attacked Starbase 99. During that conflict, Major General Brancer led a fleet deep into the Gorn territory. The Gorn surrendered, yet a quantum torpedo was launched, vaporizing the Gorn capital," Akio explained.
Akio's jaw clenched. Even in the 24th century, he was well aware of how Japan suffered two atomic explosions during war in Earth's history.
"Part of the conflict wiped out any meaningful Gorn fleet. While a minority report does exist with an assessment the Gorn saved their ships, leading assessments suggest otherwise. Since then, no Gorn ship has been photographed. No images exist from the attack on Xavier Fleet Yards and the only images I've seen are planetary transports captured from Cestus and Canterra."
Akio clicked a button and two nondescript shuttles appeared on screen. As the senior staff looked at the images, Nimh's question bugged Akio. This was another instance where Akio also felt like the Hawaii was being sent into the darkness on its own.
"We know the Gorn have rebuilt their fleet. We just don't know what it looks like or how they were able to achieve complete surprise in their attacks," Akio said solemnly.
In 5 months since the invasion? That's not possible. Ahressa settled into her seat. Intel wouldn't be this lax. Not again. Something's missing in this picture.
"With no further questions, we will go around the table for departmental reports. OPS?" Akio looked to Nimh.
Gah, I hate this part. Ahressa grumbled internally. "Yes, sir. We have fully replenished stock, emergency supplies have been placed at designated points. We are currently at the last stage of syncing up program updates, my people tell me it should be no more than the next hour until we are fully up to date on the latest versions." She began reading off of the PADD she'd brought with her.
"We are currently awaiting additional personnel, ten crewmembers to be exact, their ETA's are within the hour as well. These were pulled from the other side of the Alpha Quadrant, so they will have been in transit a while." Nimh continued.
"Operations systems wise, we are fully operational, though I'd like to run some shakedown tests en route just to make sure there are no bugs in the system. We don't want our transporters or shields malfunctioning at the wrong moment." Ahressa concluded, putting her PADD down.
"Agreed. Very well and amazing work getting the ship operational. Tactical/Sec--" Akio stopped as he looked around the table. There was no Tactical/Security Chief and there certainly was not a Klingon among them.
"XO, check with Starfleet Personnel and locate the whereabouts of LT K'lara Korat and report to OPS. OPS, if LT Korat is not joining us, I need you to work with the XO in identifying an Acting Chief Tactical/Security Officer," Akio requested.
"Understood, sir." Darren made a quick note on his PADD.
This was quite the mess. The ship was departing for war and not only did Akio not realize their Chief Tactical/Security Officer was not there, yet the department didn't seem to bother sending anyone. Akio made it a note to visit the department at once to figure out what the hell was going on.
"Let's hear from Engineering," Akio attempted to channel as much calm as possible as he turned to Deeli.
Hearing her name, she looked slowly to all at the table seeing them look at her. This was the reason why she hated to be in the spotlight. Well, lets get this over with.
"Ship's main structural frame seems to be constructed by the exact blueprints. I have evaluated about 98,5% of the vessel layout, I have given the workbees at the docking bays some updates that they need to look at."
Leaning a bit backward in her chair, "All vital systems have received the Sovereign updates and I am looking into the list of additional system updates or replacements. The warp core is having a slight wave problem, but I assigned the Warp Specialist towards this task and I expect to get that updated within two hours. That was pretty much my side sir..." Deeli looked at the Commander and awaited to get her focus back in the PADD's.
Akio processed the information and was quite impressed.
Akio next turned to Thomas, "Thank you, Lieutenant Kosu. Anything to report from INTEL?"
Akio, seeing Thomas nod no, turned to the Marine trio, "Marines?"
West cleared his throat, "We have a special mission on Bre'el while y'all have tea time with them. We should be done by the time your negotiations are over. Aside from that, I am looking for a Forward Operating Base for Battalion HQ, so we'll be making assessments on Bellatrix once we reach Xavier Fleet Yards."
Again, Akio's distaste for a unit operating in darkness aboard his ship reared its head. He made a mental note to speak with West afterwards.
Akio turned to Ren, "Flight Control?"
“Flight control is ready to go, sir. I’ve updated the navigation systems to the current operational specs, as per request by Lieutenant Kosu. I’ve also made some changes to the flight control systems, as switching to back ups seemed a little sluggish for my liking.” Ren reported, his tone professional and serious.
Akio nodded. He again took note of the Lieutenants matter-of-fact reporting. At one point, Akio wondered why many Flight Control Officers made it to Command, yet he had learned it was a position of immense responsibility that demanded attention to details.
Akio turned to the furry scientist, "Dr. Salmon, anything from Science?"
Akio thanked the Quim who reported negative, and then turned to the proverbial elephant in the room. It didn't occur to Akio what Sthilg must have been feeling as they talked about his people.
"Doctor Sthilg, anything from Medical?" Akio asked.
Curiously, the Gorn was also quiet. Akio was slightly concerned that their more combat-oriented mission spooked the more academic officers. Science and Medical were crucial to any mission, though.
Akio thanked the senior staff for their efforts and dismissed them. He thought the first brief went very well.
OFF:
Akio Tachibana, CDR, SF
Commanding Officer, USS Hawaii
Darren Marian, LT, SF
Executive Officer, USS Hawaii
Nimh Ahressa, LT, SF
Chief Operations Officer, USS Hawaii
Zim Salmon, Ph.D., LT, SF
Chief Science Officer, USS Hawaii
Ren Kannu, LT, SF
Chief Flight Control Officer, USS Hawaii
Sthilg, LTJG, SF
Chief Medical Officer, USS Hawaii
Gidassa "Gee" Thomas, LTJG, SF
Chief Intelligence Officer, USS Hawaii
Deeli Kosu, LTJG, SF
Chief Engineering Officer, USS Hawaii
Terrance "Terry" West, Maj, SFMC
Commanding Officer
3d Marine Raider Battalion
Sular Vivano, Capt, SFMC
Commanding Officer
Bravo Company, 3d Marine Raider Battalion
Jason Kage, Capt, SFMC
Commanding Officer
Delta Company, 3d Marine Raider Battalion
