The remains

Posted on Fri Feb 3rd, 2017 @ 1:42am by Commander Bertrand Cuprum & Captain Elijah Michaels & Commander Cor Cordale & Lieutenant Valeria Mordin

Mission: All the Kings Men: Wargames
Location: USS Victory

Bertrand sat behind the ready room desk looking over the orders he had received for the next set of maneuvers. He pressed the comms button.

"Lieutenants Modin and Kilbane, report to the ready room."

Kevin had just finished his review of the previous war games scenario when the call from Commander Bertram came through his COMM badge. He made his way to the Ready Room and towards where the Commander sat.

Valeria arrived in her usual quiet nature. Hardly a sound as she walked in as bidden. When she wanted to be, the rabbitess was exceptionally stealthy. Maybe she just didn't want to bring attention after what happened between the crew and the captain.

As each came in Bertrand gestured to a chair opposite him. When they were both in position he handed them a PADD.

"This is the new strategy we are playing for the next round. You will notice we are playing the role of the Jenarri this time. We have been given a set of special computer codes which will instruct federation ships computers to mimic damage consistent with the Jenarri weapon power. Likewise we are being sent a transponder to mask our normal ship signature and make it appear as a Jennari warship on Starfleet sensors. Apart from that we are being given wide license to do things the fleet will not expect. The Trafalga and the Adelaide will also be on 'our side'."

"Kevin I will need you to make the modifications so weapons generate a coded signal instead of actual weapons fire. Val, I need you to modify our transponder as per the specs provided. Do either of you see any issues with these orders?"

Valeria finished reviewing the PaDD she was handed, "The only issue I can foresee is if something were to happen that were to render us incapable of resetting the transponder. Short of that, I don't see an immediate issue." she turned towards Kevin, "I suppose the same issue exists for our weapon systems. Aside from those issues, though, I see nothing wrong with these orders." she advised.

Kevin looked at Valeria and nodded in agreement "Yes, though we can put a fail safe in place just in case we need it, say a relay that'll bypass the main ships weaponry systems which we can temporarily take offline, make the relay act like a secondary backup system, but with a primary function if that makes sense."

Bertrand nodded, "SF is advising that we keep our Secondary systems all linked to live so if something were to happen our fail-over would not be compromised. Report to me an ETA so we can let the fleet know the exercise start time."

Kevin turned back to the Commander and said "Captain, my only issue is that we're about to begin another round of war games with a lot of senior staff and senior crewman ranks gone 'on leave'. The replacements we have for them don't have the experience of those who are away, and I fear some of them just won't cut it because of their inexperience. Yes, we've all been there, I know, we have to gain experience wherever and whenever we can, but, we need our key staff in place."

Bertrand's eyes flashed with a slight hint of a smile, "Your concerns are noted and will be logged. We do not have them, so we need to be smarter. However, there is at least one action I think I can take that will help. Valeria, As XO, I am promoting you to Acting Full Lieutenant for the duration of this exercise, or until it is ratified by the Captain or SF command."

"Now, we come to being smart with the resources we have. The fleet are expecting a full frontal assault. We are stronger and more dangerous and that strategy has won the last three encounters. But I have no intention of playing that game."

"We are going to break off from the assault as a strategic withdrawal. The fleet will be forced to either concentrate on the remaining two Jenarri ships, with the hope they may finally overpower them, or split the fleet to send some ships in pursuit."

"As we disappear, they will need to spread the fleet thinner and thinner to find us and significantly weaken their lines. I will prepare a flight path that will keep us out of the major traffic lines."

The sudden and seemingly impromptu promotion caught Valeria completely off guard, "S.. sir I?" she started, then took a moment to compose herself. A breath, held, then released, "I accept the temporary promotion. Should it become permanent, it will be because of my actions and commitment, hopefully not due to a prolonged absence."

Having said her piece, she switched gears, "Do we know the full tactical capacity of the Jenarri? Decoys, false signals, what form of cloak and dagger do they engage in?" She was asking questions that probably didn't have answers. "Would they attack civilian targets? If so... would we?" she posed.

"Excellent Questions, Number One," Bertrand praised her. "We absolutely know that the Jannarri are not only capable of targeting civilians, they actively seek them out. They are looking for converts. As for cloak and dagger..." Bertrand sat back and steepled his fingers in thought. "Perhaps Agent Smith is rubbing off. How hard would it be to reproduce that transponder signal and load it onto probes? If we launch a few 'cry baby' decoys towards civilian targets, the fleet may be forced to detour some of its number to investigate. Look into it."

"What we know of the Jennarri is based on very limited data. A colony on the border begins to report an increase in civil unrest. We loose contact with the colony. Then when an investigation arrives, the Jennarri are firmly entrenched with all of the remaining local population supporting them against us. And I do mean all. There have been no accounts of even a single double agent or resistance movement working within the Jennarri colonies."

"Of course we are not given much time to investigate before we are sent running for our lives."

"With respects, the Ts'usugi were dealing with dishonest combat tactics long before Agent Smith was an idea between consenting adults." Valeria said with a ghost of a smirk. "In regards to Lieutenant Kilbane's concern, I can only echo his concern. While I won't dig up old concerns with the Captain's pursuits, we are deficient in a few key departments." she paused to take a breath, "Fortunately, sciences was not among those affected. We're fully staffed and, seeing as how our services in the engagement won't be completely vital, if additional hands are needed throughout the Victory, I can advise my staff to assist where needed, to the best of their capacity."

"We're ready to step to the plate." she quipped. "Humans adore their pastimes." she said, now with a more pronounced smirk.

Bertrand nodded, "Fortunately Tactical still has it's key person, as does Helm, Security and Science. Our real holes are Medical and Engineering, so we need to make sure they don't catch us. Start the configuration changes and report to me our eta. Dismissed."

Tag: responses.