Being Prepared

Posted on Sun Sep 27th, 2009 @ 11:51am by Captain Vorn Krace & Commander Jordan Gunning & Lieutenant Commander Abigail Valera & Lieutenant JG Lucas Jameson & Lieutenant Bradley Openhouse

Mission: Into a Devil's Heart
Location: Observation Lounge
Timeline: MD04 1015hrs

Vorn led the way into the observation lounge with the rest of his senior staff in tow, and took a seat at the head of the table. After the rest of his officers had taken their seats, he began.

"As you all know, we are now heading to the colony of Omega IV. The reasons for which I am about to tell you contain classified information. What is said in here does not go outside of this room. Is that understood?" He searched the faces of his officers for confirmation, his gaze lingering for a moment on that of his chief engineer, who was the officer in here who he felt the least amount of trust for, due to his behaviour in their first meeting.

"Yes sir." Lucas said, his voice showing he was making an attempt to be completely serious and barely managing it.

The tactical officer sat quietly with his hands clasped. He was remarkably uncomfortable at not knowing the nature of their course or their actions. Usually he had notice and could make tactical preparations. He coughed slightly before he eventually managed to say, "I understand sir."

"Aye Sir." said Bradley.

Annalyn nodded, "I understand."



Vorn brought up the picture of the man he had shown Acle earlier on the bridge, and had it display on the primary briefing room screen. The man who was depicted in it stood in front of a backdrop of fire and running children, and looked considerably distraught, but determined. "This man sent Peter a communique at sixteen-hundred, forty five hours, four days into our last mission. In it, he said that 'she' had been taken, and that Peter was the only one 'she' felt could save her. From what I know of Peter's past, I understand this woman they refer to as being Sara Pendragon, Peter's former finance. The man in the picture said that the colony was attacked, and that she was taken. There is no record in the news channels of any attack on or near the Omega IV colony."

"But that only reinforces what we already know. Petty Officer Ashley Williams has provided us with information on the motives for Commander Brown leaving on his mission. He is going to find his father, the person Peter believes to have taken Ms. Pendragon. Peter's father is one Captain Jonathan Brown, commanding officer of the USS Sierra-A. The Sierra is a highly classified intelligence vessel. It's activities and movements are not recorded in any official documents or publications. Currently, the only lead we have as to a possible location for the Sierra is this man," Vorn indicated the picture again, "and the knowledge that Peter was heading for a nebula, which requires special shielding he designed for a ship to survive inside it. I cannot find any mention of this shielding in his official files, so that must mean he designed it whilst he worked in Starfleet Intelligence."

"Any questions?"

"Yeah, I got one." Lucas said "How do you expect us to follow him if he's heading into a nebula that needs shields we don't have the specs for? I mean, I can try to produce the shielding, but I'm not going to promise you that it's doable, especially if I don't have the original research."

"First, we need to find out what nebula the shielding was designed for, and what properties it has," Vorn replied. "There's no point designing shielding for conditions we don't know about. I'm hoping that we can find another clue on Omega IV that will at least point us in the direction of this nebula. With a bit of luck, we might be able to find some more information on this shielding, too."

"Is there any kind of humanitarian aid that we can provide if we do find that the colony's been attacked?" Gunning asked, slightly concerned at the impact a Starfleet vessel turning tail as soon as they had their information might be.

"Depending on how long we can be there, some medical at the very least, 4 doctors and crew can do a lot in a short period of time."

"I'll have a repair team ready to go." Lucas said "I'll also have some more basic universal supplies replicated. Hopefully, that'll be all the stuff they need, save some time."

Inwardly, Vorn smiled to himself, though he didn't let it show on his face, leaving that to remain neutral, as he needed to be as a commander, simply nodding to their suggestions, giving a non-verbal approval for them to set preparations for them in motion. He was pleased that his crew were thinking more broadly than the immediate issue, and especially that they were looking towards the safety of Federation citizens, in addition to completing their primary mission. "If we cannot render sufficient aid in the time we have before we must leave, then we will leave a small contingent on the planet to continue to render aid until we have completed our mission. Doctor, if such a situation arises, I would like you to lead that team. A medical officer's experience in coordinating the chaos you must sometimes deal with in triage room during battle makes you the best prepared for dealing with a situation of colony relief work." He knew that Bradley had been part of the medical staff prior to becoming the ship's counsellor, so if he did have to leave Annalyn on the colony, he'd ask him to fill in for the doctor while she was away.

Inclining his head towards them all, he continued, "You all have an idea what we're going to be doing once we get there, and why we are going to Omega IV. Make any preparations within your departments that you need to. Dismissed."

---------------
Captain Vorn Krace
Commanding Officer
USS Iapetus

Lieutenant Jordan Gunning
Chief Tactical/Security Officer
USS Iapetus

Lieutenant Abigail Valera
Chief Science Officer
USS Iapetus

Lieutenant Annalyn LaToon
Chief Medical Officer
USS Iapetus

Lieutenant JG Lucas Jameson
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Iapetus

&

Lieutenant JG Bradley Openhouse
Chief Counsellor
USS Iapetus