Conflicting Comms
Posted on 19 Dec 2017 @ 7:16pm by Captain Akio Tachibana & Commander Juan Zamora (Dec [CDO]-Jan 2389 - TRSNFR to Gorn Dip.) & 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.) & Lieutenant Tyler Fallon (Dec-Jan 2389 - TRNSFR, Bre'el Dip. Msn.)
Mission:
He ho'omaka hou 'ana - A New Beginning
Location: Bridge - Deck 1
Timeline: 27 Dec 2388
ON:
Akio exited from his ready room as a crewman announced his presence.
"As you were. I have the bridge," Akio said as he sat down in his seat and turned to Darren.
Darren moved quickly to his own seat as the captain sat beside him. "What's the word, sir?"
"I just spoke with Vice Admiral Anin and Bre'el actually requested a dialogue with Starfleet."
Darren looked at Commander Tachibana, bewildered. He was silent for a moment as he processed the information. "Well, that certainly complicates things, sir."
Complicated would be an understatement, Akio thought as he turned back to the viewscreen. This changed their plans significantly, especially as they were approaching Bre'el.
"XO, we need to create a few away teams. I will lead one to meet with the government of Bre'el as ordered while you investigate the source of our warning communication as I don't think it came from the government. I know Major West also has a mission planetside, so coordinate with him if we need any marines. He did put in a request for an Engineer so I'll leave it up to you where you want to send Lieutenant Kosu."
"That sounds like a great plan. I hope we won't need any marines. But if you're right about the source of the communication not being the government...well, we might be starting the battle part of this excursion a little sooner than I expected. Are there any militant rebel factions or criminal elements on Bre'el we know of that might have reason to keep us away from Bre'el? Otherwise, the only thing I can think of is that the Klingons or Gorn beat us there." He shook his head. "Either way, we need to figure this out. I'll get my team together. I would like to request a skilled tactical officer for my group as there's a good chance we might encounter a sticky situation. Would you be opposed to me taking Fallon with me?"
"I hope we don't encounter Gorn this far into Federation space. As for Klingons, that warning wouldn't make sense from them unless they are also making incursions into our space," Akio thought out loud.
"As for Fallon, feel free. That leaves Danz with my team, then. If Thomas is going planetside, make sure she picks a different color than grey to wear. We've also been ordered to approach by shuttle instead of transporters, so we'll need to pull pilots and flight controllers. The Marines already requisitioned the runabouts and a couple Type-11s which leaves us with the other two Type-11s," Akio continued the personnel discussion with Darren.
"That shouldn't be a problem. I'll talk to Lieutenant Kannu about getting getting some pilots together and make sure Lieutenant Nimh has transport requisitioned for us. Damn inconvenience, that. But, when in Rome."
Akio nodded and was amused by the XO getting used to the Bajoran names. Hell, Akio was still getting used to them also.
Tyler shook his head from his position at the Tactical console. Babysitting duty was always such a pleasure, but letting both command officers off the ship at once? There wasn't even a second officer listed officially. "Pardon my interruption sir, but I feel the need to point out that having both the Commanding and Executive Officers planet side at the same time is both unwise and contrary to Starfleet policy. We have no official Second Officer and by the sound of your conversation a large portion of the bridge crew will be going on these missions. I urge you to reconsider these choices especially since we don't know what exactly we're about to walk into when we arrive."
"Mr. Fallon, your concern is duly noted. I am sure the ship will be in capable hands and aside from the cryptic message, we don't have any reason to believe hostile action will be taken against us. Even in the state of war, I don't expect Bre'el to shoot a Federation starship out of orbit," Akio answered.
"Be that as it may sir, until we have proof that message actually came from the Bre'el government we should proceed cautiously. As you humans are so fond of saying, I can feel it in my gut. There's something off about this scenario." Tyler continued. He didn't want to have to invoke any security regulations, but damn well would if required.
Akio looked at Fallon for a moment and wondered if he was reading his thoughts or truly had the same concerns.
"Mr. Fallon, I agree there are many things that are unusual, yet my hunch says the message did not originate with the government if they requested a meeting. There are also no further communications we've received from Bre'el despite our closing distance," Akio answered and glanced at OPS to confirm.
Darren turned in his seat to face the tactical officer. "While I do understand your concerns, Lieutenant, I feel like the risk is acceptable. The Captain will be acting as a kind of diplomat in this scenario, which I feel like is one of the classical duties of a starship captain. The situation we will be going into is the potentially dangerous one. As for the ship, I agree with Commander Tachibana, the ship will be in capable hands--"
Just then, the voice of Nimh came through the comms.
"Nimh to Tachibana. Sir, we have a late delivery via a near warp transport. I'm heading down to Transporter Room One to oversee it myself. We have a potential game changer with this delivery, sir." The unspoken 'so we may want to hold off for a moment with our plans', was clear in the silence that followed.
Akio was a bit struck off guard. Near-warp transports were rare.
"Copy, Lieutenant. Helm is standing by for your mark for deceleration. I hope you still remember the calculation tables from the Academy," Akio replied.
Akio looked to helm, "Mr. Ren, ensure we are going exactly warp 8 and standby for deceleration command from OPS."
Akio was not sure if he was anxious about who was coming aboard or that this was the first time this crew was conducting a near-warp transport. Hell, the first time they were even using the transporters on this ship. Near-warp transports were rare, yet Akio had seen it done a few times.
“Aye, sir.” Ren said with a nod as he began making course corrections to allow for a near warp transport. He'd done this a few times in his career but the slightest miscalculation could end messy.
Darren leaned over to the Captain. "Do you have any idea what this is about, sir? I didn't hear anything about a planned near-warp transport."
"You know as much as I do on this one," Akio said quietly to the XO. "Whatever it is, it must be important enough to send a starship out of its way to catch up to us."
Ahressa stepped into the main Transporter Room. "Ensign," she said to the Operator, "we'll be doing a near warp transport. Contact the Potsdam Operations officer and sync up our Heisenberg compensators. I'll coordinate with flight control to match velocities and compensate for the ship's relativistic motion with their own Operator."
The young man nodded.
Ahressa took the main console and tapped at a few controls. "Nimh to Ren, please coordinate with the USS Potsdam flight control to match ship velocities. Let me know when sync complete and be ready to decelerate on my command."
“Understood.” Ren said as began match velocity with the USS Potsdam. “Sync is now complete, Lieutenant.”
"Thank you, Lieutenant, stand by." Ahressa subconsciously nodded.
"Hawaii Ops to USS Potsdam. Are the Lieutenant and his team ready?" Ahressa closed one channel only to open another in quick succession.
"Potsdam to Hawaii, we are go on your mark," a voice reported back.
"Hawaii, understood." Ahressa looked over at the young Ensign who nodded once, indicating the Heisenberg compensators of the transporter system itself were aligned.
She opened a three way channel, one to Ren, one to the Potsdam flight controller and one to the Potsdam transporter operator.
"Reduce speed on my mark, " she began, "and confirm velocity match."
"Three."
"Two."
"One."
"Decelerate."
Ren worked his console as he began the deceleration process. The ship's inertial dampeners where thrown into overdrive to stop everyone being thrown forward. “Deceleration complete.” The Helmsman reported.
"Potsdam, Hawaii, initiate transport in three," Ahressa dictated again, fingers dancing across the console.
"Two."
"One."
"Energize."
Juan heard the hum of energy as the transporter powered up, saw the flash of light, felt the by now familiar tingling in his extremities, and blinked a few times as he adjusted to the new dimensions of the room. A small smile turned the corners of his mouth ever so slightly upwards, he'd never been through a near-warp transport before. Not missing a beat he turned his head from side to side, "did everyone make it?" Everyone appeared fine, except for one ensign who looked a little green around the gills. Satisfied, he turned back to the people standing at the console, "Lieutenant Nimh, Permission to come aboard?"
Ahressa grinned, letting out a deep breath, "permission granted, Lieutenant Zamora. I would advise heading up to the Bridge immediately, the Captain will have need of your services sooner rather than later, I believe."
At this one neatly manicured eyebrow shot up on Juan's face, "well, you certainly know how to make somebody feel needed Lieutenant" he began. Starting down the steps he continued, "I can certainly be up right away, I am happy to offer my services when ever they may be required, however..." He looked briefly over his shoulder to the half dozen staffers and the handful of packages and containers that had made the trip with him "... Could you kindly arrange for somebody to help get my people and our supplies situated. I would be very grateful." By now he had reached the lieutenant and extended a hand. "It has been a pleasure to meet you, and congratulations on a successful operation."
"Mr. Ren, back to warp 8," Akio said as soon as he heard energize.
“Aye, sir. Putting us back on our original course and speed.” Ren replied as the starfield on the view screen suddenly jumped into high warp.
"Nimh to Bridge, near-warp transport successful." Ahressa's voice came through the comm, "sent the gamechanger up to the Bridge."
"Acknowledged," Akio replied.
Darren looked over at the Commander. "Gamechanger, eh?" He raised his eyebrows. "Color me intrigued."
Akio nodded as he started thinking who their new guest was. If Nimh sent him/her up to the bridge it certainly meant he didn't have to change uniforms which meant it wasn't a distinguished visitor. That just made the newcomer more mysterious due to the method of delivery.
“Sounds very interesting.” Ren commented from the CONN.
Juan stepped out of the turbolift as soon as the doors slid open, striding confidently onto the bridge and introducing himself. "Greetings Captain, and let me apologize for my late arrival. I am Lieutenant Juan Zamora, assigned to act as Chief Diplomatic Officer for this vessel, and I am led to understand that you might have a use for my services."
All eyes on the bridge turned to Zamora. It was almost a scene out of a Hollywood movie right down to the pulsing vein on Akio's forehead. Akio felt his temperature rise. What was Starfleet thinking in sending a Diplomatic Officer in the middle of wartime? The time for diplomacy was over.
"Lieutenant Zamora, welcome aboard and please, step into my office," Akio gestured.
OFF:
Akio Tachibana, CDR, SF
Commanding Officer, USS Hawaii
Darren Marian, LT, SF
Executive Officer, USS Hawaii
Juan Zamora, LT, SF
Chief Diplomatic Officer, USS Hawaii
Nimh Ahressa, LT, SF
Chief Operations Officer, USS Hawaii
Ren Kannu, LT, SF
Chief Flight Control Officer, USS Hawaii
Tyler Fallon, LT, SF
Chief Tactical & Security Officer, USS Hawaii
