Staff Briefing

Posted on Tue May 26th, 2020 @ 4:55pm by Captain Abigail Laurens & Lieutenant Colonel Johnathon Hayter & Lieutenant Commander T'Vek & Lieutenant Commander William Gunnison & Lieutenant Farizah Alani & Chief Petty Officer Benjamin Thor & Lieutenant Commander William Rogers & Commander Ichiko Gail & Lieutenant Commander Calvin Morgan & Lieutenant Bianca Lee & Lieutenant Valenna

Mission: Into The Delta Triangle
Location: Observation Lounge

There was something that was comforting and familiar about the layout of the observation lounge, the familiar platters of pastries and treats, the ever familiar ginger snap cookies, and the carafes of beverages.

Indeed, it was wonderful having Ichiko back on duty. Her little touches and attention to detail had been sorely missed. Her presence made it feel like things were much more normal.

Pouring herself a cup of chai before taking a seat, Abigail reached for a pastry and smiled as she settled in waiting for her staff to arrive.

Lieutenant Commander T'Vek walked into the lounge, his pitch black uniform looking as if it might suck the ambient light from the room, a stark contrast the the pale skin the peaked out from the collar of the neck and arms of the tunic. He nodded to the Captain, who he was already slightly acquainted with as he took a set just a little ways down from her.

"Captain," he said with the complete Vulcan monotone that he generally used in such situations.

Valenna walked into the observation lounge and grabbed herself a cup of coffee. She had already met the commanding officer, but had yet to meet much of the rest of the crew. She nodded towards T'Vek. "Commander, a pleasure to meet you." She sat down in one of the chairs and took a sip of her coffee. "You can call me Valenna."

Lieutenant Alani walked into the room swayed her hips around the table and fetched herself a treat and a drink. "A Bolian walks into a room with a Vulcan and a Klingon" she said as she took her seat. "I feel like that's a beginning of a strange joke" she added.

That brought a smirk to the rabbitess' face. "I've been told that a few old bits of Earth humor no longer apply once you factor in the galactic community. What walks on four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three in the evening is either humanity, or a hungover Dalacari." Ichiko offered, "Meanwhile, great philosophers from across the scope of the cosmos ponder the ultimate question... Why did the chicken cross the road?"

"I trust we've all been enjoying our time away?"

With coffee already in hand, Calvin entered the lounge quietly. He was cognizant to ensure he actually wore his pips on his blue undershirt, wanting to ensure gratitude was known. However, the uniform jacket as usual was ditched sometime earlier in the day for the lab coat. He leaned against the wall, in the same place he had the last meeting.

Buck had also made sure to attach the new indications of his rank to his uniform. It had been the first thing he'd done - mostly to ensure he'd not forget once he came back from shore leave. "What's up, Doc?" He asked giving Calvin a light fist bump on the shoulder.

Ben turns up hastily putting on his engineering overcoat to cover up a few stains on his uniform. "Ooo I know that one, Donald Duck right?" He comments towards Buck.

The helmsman looked at the engineer, a little surprised and slightly aghast. He shook his head slightly. "No man, it's Bug Bunny." The surprise gave way to jovial suspicion followed by an amused laugh. "Hold on, are you yanking my chain?"

"Damn, wrong one." Ben replies before adding, "They showed us a selection of old earth entertainment way way back. Must of misremembered."

"Don't sweat it!" Buck gave a hearty laugh. "You're thinking of Daffy."

Abigail watched the exchange between the two with a very confused shake of her head before picking up a PaDD and thumbing into it. "Grab seats people, lets get this started."

The doors slid open to the observation lounge with Lt. Colonel Hayter walking in. He had already chosen to grab a mug from his office after he took a shower. The early workout with his canine and a couple of his marines took longer than planned but it was worth it. Last night wasn't the best of sleep at all. He would have to go see the Vulcan doctor later for something to help him sleep. Without really saying much to the rest of the crew, John raised his mug and hearing the last line from the captain to take their seats, he took an empty chair.

Late? No, Bianca glanced at her chrono, she was on time, if just within five minutes. She grabbed a cup of coffee, black with two sugars, harvested a pastry from the platter, "Captain, Commander." She greeted both Abigail and Ichiko, the latter with a bow of the head, then looked over the table and found where she'd be seated. She gave smiles of greetings to the other senior officers she knew and took her seat next to Valenna, "Good mornin', Ah don't think we've met, Ah'm Bianca, Strategic Operations."

Valenna nodded at Bianca softly. "Pleasure to meet you, lieutenant. Valenna, chief science officer."

Will came in and sat down, nodding at the other officers already gathered.

An image of a Cardassian appeared on the screen set into the wall. "Breloc Tejar was a Cardassian overseer during much of the Occupation of Bajor. Known as a ruthless enforcer of the law and for his less-than-charitable attitude toward the Bajorans under his command, Tejar is directly responsible for the death of thousands of Bajorans, either through ordered executions or other means." Abigail spoke quietly, suddenly aware of the silence that had fallen over the room.

"The Director of the Cardassian Justice Commission, Gora Lakan, has requested assistance from Starfleet to locate him. It is believed he's been operating in Federation space. We don't know exactly where, or what it is that he's been doing. Intelligence has several leads, one of which is..." She tapped the PaDD and the image of Tejar moved to one side, a map appearing next to him. "Delta Triangle, specifically Kessik, which is where we're heading."

Another tap at the PaDD and the image of the map zoomed in on two side by side planets. "Both planets have small Federation colonies. Kessik IV is primarily a dilithium mining colony, however Kessik III has an operational dilithium refining plant. Very small and predominantly refining for local use. We will be sending away teams to both colonies in search of Tejar."

"The Delta Triangle may be Federation space, but last I knew, Starfleet hasn't kept a major role in the area. Does Intel have anything on the criminal activities?" John spoke up as the headache started to kick in. He rubbed his temple for a moment before taking a gulp of his coffee.

Abigail shook her head. "The two colonies are Federation citizens, but there is no active Starfleet presence on either colony. Because of that, we'll need to keep low profiles. Intelligence hasn't been able to provide any specific information that implies that Tejar is there, but it seems he may have been there recently."

"Taking us to the Delta Triangle, Captain?" replied Farizah with a smirk. "I hope you don't have any plans on becoming a statistic," she added knowing the reputation of the region. "Now, you said low profile and there's no active Starfleet presence...does that mean civilian attire for this one?"

"Away teams will go down in civilian attire, yes. I believe it is the easiest way to avoid drawing undue attention to ourselves while we do what we need to do," Abigail replied quietly.

Bianca raised a finger for attention, "Assumin' we're takin' the ship into the area and the fact that there's minimal Starfleet interaction, may Ah suggest that one of the away teams go in as a diplomatic team on a general inspection? It could give a reasonable excuse for a starship to be in the region."

Valenna had been listening and thinking about the situation ahead of them. "Captain, if I may inquire? Is there any particular reason as to why Tejar is on Kessik?" She crossed her arms. "Random hiding place or something more...strategic?"

"If we go into the system with the starship and start flaunting a diplomatic team, we give up our eliminate of surprise," Hayter offered up his two cents before taking a sip of his coffee. It was going to be a long day.

Abigail paused for a moment, contemplating the newest enquiries. "I doubt our ship will cause any great amount of interest. There are a lot of ships in and out of the area at any given time..." She paused momentarily and glanced toward Lieutenant Gunnison. "That said, is there anything you can do that might help mask our signature? Maybe make us blend in a little more with general traffic in the area? Aside from that, the teams will keep a low profile. Go down, keep a low profile, ask a few questions, get a few answers, see what we can find out. We have no evidence that he is there, but both Cardassian intelligence and Starfleet Intelligence have indicated that it is definitely a place of interest."

"If there is a way to mask our signature, then we should make all efforts to pursue it" commented Farizah Alani. "I love Astraea, Captain, and though starship traffic in the region is commonplace...I counter by asking how common is a Federation starship with the role of 'heavy cruiser' with a double hull, abalative armor, and a healthy marine detachment in this region? Frankly speaking, we could take over a small unsuspecting moon with enough strategizing."

"Nothing gets my blood pumping like flying in with a heavy back hand and put people in their place. I mean if we are going down that route. I would settle with no less than a small moon to be in charge of. I mean... Supreme Lord Hayter, I guess I could get used to that," the marine muttered as he shrugged before looking over at the CO. "I'd say you can count on some black market activity out here, even on Federation planets."

Farizah rolled her eyes at the Lord Hayter comment. "Well, my Lord you are correct," replied the Bolian Security Chief. "Black market activities here is very likely, a trickle down from a greater problem of increase in piracy over the years, a large portion of it concentrated a good deals bit away from the Delta Triangle, but the DT is the perfect place for hucksters, peddlers, and smugglers to set up shop."

"With respects to the would-be King..." Ichiko started with a smirk, "I may be able to offer an alternative. I can put out a contact to see about borrowing a Blink Shuttle. They're fast, sublight personnel transports that we use in the Empire. No warp engines, so no warp signature to mask, and completely different than anything the Federation proper uses. Trick is, they're sublight only, so the Astraea would need to be in system in case something went wrong. Hiding in the sensor shadow of a moon, or even behind the star and use probes to keep comm channels open." Ichiko offered as an alternative.

"We've got two Blink fighters here, to use as escort to complete the disguise. Now, the snag. Ts'usugi craft can't hit Warp 9, but the Dalacari craft they escort easily can. I can ask that a shuttle be loaded onto a Dalacari cruiser and sent on a rendezvous, but we'd have to ensure that where we meet for the exchange is someplace secure." no hard task for a heavy cruiser to accomplish.

She motioned back to the crew with a gesture of her hand, "Should it please the High King. May his moon watch over us all." she teased with a smirk.

Buck leaned back in his chair. "As much fun as rollin' up in a Blink Shuttle sounds, if Astraea needs to be in system anyway we could just use one of our own shuttles to land. Easy enough task to fly in under the radar without using warp drives."

Abigail shook her head. "Our shuttles are all clearly identifiable, it wouldn't expect it to be terribly difficult for anyone to find out where they are from if they were so inclined. A blink shuttle would definitely be more difficult to identify, but also just as likely to draw attention." She steepled her fingers for a moment before shaking her head. "We'll use our own shuttles. Lieutenant Gunnison and Mister Thor, do what you can to mask their credentials. Mister Ottasu and Ms Veera can pilot them for us and the away teams can use transporters instead of landing shuttles."

Buck looked at the mug of coffee in front of him. He thought about protesting. About requesting to fly one of the shuttles himself. Anyone can park a ship in a sensor shadow, but the flying those shuttles had to do required their best pilots. There was no denying that Ghost and Dead Eye were talented pilots, but when it came to Federation ships, Buck was of the opinion that there was none on the Astraea better than he was. The Captain had given her orders though and as much as it stung his ego to be passed over, and it did sting, it was neither the time or the place to voice that. He looked at his coffee for a moment trying to heat it with the disappointment he was keeping off his face.

Bianca smiled slightly, “Some paint and altering transponders could do the trick to fuzz their credentials, ma’am. If we’re confident in the presence of an even semi-active black market, we could even use that as a cover. Smugglers and the such do try to keep a low profile and all we would have to do is keep to ourselves and make quiet inquiries to look like them. Quacks like a duck, looks like a duck. A couple of shuttles could easily be made up to look like a duck.”

"We could certainly mask shuttle transponders if needed," Will said, scanning over a padd. "It may even be possible to tweak both the transponder and the warp core of the Astraea enough to fool the casual observer, at least from a distance, so we may be able to get the ship itself in a little closer than we'd be able to if this weren't out in the...I believe an old Earth word would be the 'boondocks.' And while I understand that we want to keep our options open when looking for Tejar, if I may be permitted to suggest that we pay particular attention to both the dilithium mines on Kessik IV and the dilithiums refining plant on Kessik III specifically, rather than outlying areas? Tejar, like other high-ranking Cardassians who were assigned to Bajor, was involved in overseeing the mining activities there, as well as the processing of the various ores mined, so he may be pitching his past experience to the locals in the Kessik system, possibly under an assumed name."

"Definitely a though," Abigail responded with a nod. "I believe that would be an appropriate way to handle it. Lieutenant Commander Rogers, I want you leading the first away team going down to Kessik IV. Lieutenant Farizah, I'd like you to lead the team to Kessik III. Commander Gail will work with you both for away team assignments to make sure you have appropriate staff on each team. Other than that, we have a few days to finalize our battle plans and get things in place. Any questions?" Abigail asked as she looked around the table.

The Bolian hid the purpling of her cheeks. Lieutenant Farizah she thought to herself. The Captain had addressed her as such. First name are we she nearly snorted, but kept her composure. This was a staff briefing after all. "No Ma'am. You tell me where to go and I'm there. Now, I presume you'll be remaining aboard?"

"I will be staying aboard at least initially. I'll have Commander Gail overseeing the away teams from the ship. After that, well, we'll see where it takes us. I will be prepared to go down at any time if needed," Abigail replied.

Buck nodded. "What's our operational window for this?"

"We have no specific window, but obviously we need to move quickly and quietly. If Tejar is down there then we can't risk him getting word of us looking for him," Abigail added. "Any other questions?"

"None here." Ichiko said, "I'll inform the starfighter wing of their orders and have them and the shuttle of choice prepped and ready."she gave a pause as she looked around, "And I'll work on the Away teams momentarily."

"No, sir," Valenna said.

Ichiko was in silent thought for the moment, though the moment passed. "Away team one will be Lieutenant Commander Rogers, Lieutenant Commander Calvin, Lieutenant Lee, Lieutenant McMillan, Lieutenant Valeena, and Mister Thor." she cast her hollow glance at each crewmember as she called their name. To each, a nod.

She looked at each of the next crewmembers selected in turn, giving each a nod as she named them by rank and name, "Team two will be Lieutenant Aenera, Lieutenant Alani, Lieutenant Levine, Mister Gregory Richardson, and Lieutenant Gunnison. I'll allow either team the autonomy to determine where they will best deploy. Any questions or concerns with your teams, bring them up with me."

Ichiko paused. She remembered that while she would be ship's second in the Empire... This wasn't the Empire. The crew were allowed, perhaps even encouraged to speak their mind to the Captain directly if needed.

"... or with the Captain." she added.

"Thank you everyone," Abigail said quietly. "You're all dismissed. Any questions, feel free to ask."