Going Green

Posted on Sun Mar 13th, 2016 @ 11:05pm by Captain Elijah Michaels & Captain Brenda Sinclair

Mission: Vipers and Scoundrels
Location: Marine Country, USS Victory

With the Victory on its way to Nomad Station and the Away Team setting things in motion, this left Captain Michaels to formulate a back up plan with those remaining on the Victory.

For this to work he needed to speak to the Jarheads, in particular all of their Officers.

Taking a Turbolift down to what was dubbed 'Marine Country', the Fleet Officer skimmed over the details he had to share and felt the lift whir into action.

When it stopped he walked across the hallway into the Marine section of the Ship.

A sentry snapped to attention as the man passed, rendering a snap salute, per Marine custom. "Fleet Officer on deck!" He called, a blank stare directed at the bulkhead before him.

Brenda, who had been crossing the corridor from her Office into the Marine's Tactical Analysis Centre, blinked and turned her head. Sure enough, there was a crimson uniform heading towards her. "Captain. What brings you down to Marine Country?"

"Captain Sinclair, nice to have you back." Elijah said with a polite smile. "I hope your secondment to the 13th QRF wasn't too eventful?" He then returned to her previous question. "I have business to discuss with yourself and your Officers." He said holding a PADD. "Your Office in five minutes?"

That drew a raised eyebrow. The man was requesting a meeting in her office? Curiosity bloomed inside her. "Corporal." She looked past the man, at one of the sentries. "Page my Platoon CO's, and Gunny Jacobs to my office." While not strictly an officer, the First Sergeant billet was someone who needed to know damn near everything the Officers did.

"Shall we?" She indicated the way she had come, back into her office. Not waiting for a response, the brunette stepped back inside, crossing the room and sitting behind her desk. "Coffee, black. Times six." She raised an eyebrow at the man, asking what he wanted.

"Tea, no sugar." Elijah said to Sinclair. The Captain organised himself at the viewscreen by the Marine Officers Desk, he knew that she had questions and that she was surely going state her opinion.

With the drinks ordered, Brenda was just finishing setting them on the desk, sliding the tea over to the Captain as her Marines walked in the doors.

"Hey Bren, what the-" whatever her Exec had been about to say was cut off when he saw the Skipper sitting in a chair. "This should be good."

The four officers - two First Lieutenants, and two Second Lieutenants - all took seats, while the Gunny leaned casually against a wall, after they had each taken a fresh coffee off the desk. "Captain Michaels requested the meeting." Brenda explained, and turned the floor over to him. "Captain?"

With a nod the Captain uploaded some info onto the monitor. "Hello everyone, I know this is a little unexpected given that I am here but matters dictate that I give this briefing." With that being said Elijah skimmed to the next section, a schematic of a Nor Class Station. "I give you Nomad Station, or Setak Nor if you prefer."

A look was passed between the Marines, and it was Jacobs who offered a comment. "Someone decided to call a Station 'Nomad'? Okay... so, a stationary object named for something that regularly moves." Sometimes, people baffled her. "Cardassian built.... I assume they're not the ones currently in charge?"

"Correct Gunny." Elijah said to the NCO. "Her current residents are a group of Pirates that have been conducting their business from the Station." He changed to the next section. "Victory encountered a beat up Cardassian Freighter several hours ago ferrying three low level Ambassadors and a lot of crates of Latinum."

The jocular mood died in an instant with those words. Pirates. Self-proclaimed "free" men and women, from all races. Thieves, the lot of them. Not usually something she had dealt with herself, Brenda was glad to say, being a ground-based Infantry Unit commander, she rarely dealt with space-related activities. Until coming aboard the Victory, it would seem. "The name would seem more appropriate than appearances would suggest." The Marine Captain observed. "What is our mission?"

"An Away Team from Victory will be posing as a Crew of a private Mercenary band, hired to transport the Ambassadors and the Latinum to the Station." Elijah could sense the Marines were a little dubious. "There are hostages on the Station and that Latinum is their ransom."

The Captain then took a sip from his tea before continuing with the briefing. "Once our Away Team makes contact with the kidnappers then we either avoid bloodshed or gear up for a possible rescue." The Captain gave them a look. "The latter needs to be planned."

"The hostages will no doubt be in the Security holding cells." Lieutenant Parker offered. She look in the schematic view of the station. "Habitat ring, inside the inner shield, with independent shields on the cells that run off a secondary back-up generator. No chance in hell of beaming them off, not without an extensive space-based fire-fight to knock out the primary and secondary shields, and kill power to the generator."

Brenda let out a sigh. That left a combat insertion, and a fire-team to storm the Promenade. Simple on paper, but those things were basically a shooting gallery. "Forlorn Hope." She muttered darkly, pinching the bridge of her nose. "The first through a breached wall were blasted apart by powder and cannon. Ops?" She offered a look to the Heavy Weapons Platoon commander.

Parker nodded. "Element of surprise. Beam in, take the leader hostage, barter their survival for the hostages.... assuming the infiltration team isn't killed."

"'Cannon to right of them.' / 'Cannon to left of them.' / 'Cannon in front of them,' / 'Volley'd and thunder'd.'" Brenda gave Captain Michaels a look. "Any assault into a Nor-class will be bloody. Quiet infiltration would be the better bet. If that Away Team fails, we will haul their arses out of the fire, but we will burn in the process."

"I agree, which is why I am trusting you as the last resort." Elijah said openly to the Marines. "Victory will be linking up with the Cardassians once the Away Team departs, one of the hostages is a Cardassian Citizen and this is their space." He took another sip of tea. "If we can get the Cardassians to agree to this then we should have enough resources to avoid total bloodshed."

A general snort of amusement came from the group at 'that' notion. The Cardys had simmered somewhat, after the kicking they had gotten in the D-War, but a Cardassian was still a Cardassian, no matter how wounded they may be. Some would say 'especially' if they had been wounded. "We'll be ready." Brenda said, not happy with the idea of leading people to their deaths, but it was the job they had all taken, the oath they had sworn.

"Brief your Marines and report to me on the Bridge." Elijah said to Brenda. "I would like you there for the launch."

"Aye, aye, Captain." Brenda replied with a nod, offering an outward confidence she hoped seemed genuine. Morale was a powerful thing, afterall.

"Alright dismissed." Elijah said with a nod before closing the viewer.

Brenda watched as the officers left, her eyes ticking over to the Gunny who was still leaning against the wall. The woman had a look on her face. "Spit it out." Brenda ordered. She had long since been able to read her Gunny like a book.

"That man's insane." Jacobs replied, without a hint of regret. "He's asking us to walk into hell."

"Tell me something I don't know." Brenda replied with a sigh. What could she do? Refuse the order? Some legal weeny could argue its legality, she assumed, but that was a Court-Martial she didn't want to endure.

Jacobs was already have way to the door, when she paused and offered a grin. "You have an unread message?"

Brenda stared in bemusement, as the icon popped up, after the woman was through the door-way. "How the-" One day, she might find out. One day.