Victory is life

Posted on Thu Sep 7th, 2017 @ 6:10pm by Rear Admiral Tim Goddard & Captain Elijah Michaels & Lieutenant JG Elliot Keller & Commander Bertrand Cuprum & Commander Cor Cordale & Lieutenant Commander Ziyal Tajor & Lieutenant Hel Samedi & Lieutenant Commander Alec Wescott & Lieutenant Sara'draphia T'eseri & Lieutenant Odelle Lin & Lieutenant Alexander Vickers & Ensign Todd Bailey

Mission: When the Sinful strike back
Location: Briefing Room, Deck 1

Elijah sat at the head of the table, his customary spot for all briefings and Ships matters. However this time it seemed rather like he was out of the loop. He looked around at the gathered Staff of the Victory, some were sat down and others were forced to stand. All hands on deck it would seem.

The doors to the Conference room opened as three Officers appeared, a human male Admiral, a Caitan Brigadier General in Combat Fatigues and a human female sporting the uniform of Starfleet Intelligence and the markings of a Commander.

"Attention on Deck." Elijah called as he and the Staff all snapped to attention at the presence of the Rear Admiral.

Cordale snapped to attention. A lot of people never really factored this in, but Cordale was pretty much not just an officer, but an ambassador of his people. His people... being him.

Hel, next to Cor, snapped to attention as well. Far less of an ambassador, she considered herself more just in the role of a tinker who fell up the proverbial ladder and thus didn't find all this pomp and circumstance necessary, nor her presence therein.

Initially hoping to remain somewhat inconspicuous, Alex rose to attention following suit. These briefings were usually long and dreary; but, he had the feeling this one would be different.

Alec came crisply to attention as the Admiral and General walked into the room. He was looking forward to finding out what the hell was going on here.

Standing over near the Windows, Sara turned around to face whoever was coming in. She didn't 'snap to attention' as it wasn't a Nissari regulation to do so. Also as a former commando, her attitude towards superiors was a little different to her Starfleet companions.

Todd came to attention, eye's firmly fixed on the far wall.

Ziyal came to attention with the rest of the group. This was far from the first briefing she had attended with multiple flag officers. However, her role was different this time. She was a Strategic operations officer, working and coordinating with the rest of the fleet was her job.

Valeria came to attention as the doors swished open and she saw the officers arriving. Even her ears perked up to add to the display.

Even when Bertrand stood at attention, there was something about him that suggested a slouch.

"As you were." Goddard said as he proceeded to the large monitor at the front of the room. "Good morning everyone, sorry to have you up so early but dire times require dire measures." He then looked around the room. "What you are all about to hear is top secret and is to be confined within this room, failure to do so will result in arrest and immediate dismissal." He then guided the Intel Officer forward.

"The Jennarri Inquisition have seized control of the last Colony on the edge of the Frontier and with a massive fleet they are starting their purge." Goddard commented. "However their recent contact with the Cardassians has drummed up some interesting secrets."

The Intelligence Officer then pulled up some data. "A weakness has been discovered in their Tactical Systems."

Looking over at the data, Sara's training started to kick in as she began analyzing what she saw. "A 'tactical' weakness? Seems rather specific" she said quietly to herself.

"You are required to maneuver straight down this trench and skim the surface to this point. The target area is only two meters wide. It's a small thermal exhaust port, right below the main port. The shaft leads directly to the reactor system. A precise hit will start a chain reaction which should destroy the station. Only a precise hit will set off a chain reaction. The shaft is ray-shielded, so you'll have to use photon torpedoes."

Bertrand shook himself out of the weird daydream he was having. His attention was drifting, and that would not do.

"Yes Doctor." The Intel Officer commented. "In their confrontation with the Cardassians the Jennarri employed a similar tactic to the one they used against Victory." She then pulled up a schematic of a Cardassian Hideki Class. "However the Cardassians discovered that their weapons whilst powerful were prone to overheating against smaller and more fast moving targets."

"So shuttlecraft, fighter craft, and fighter swarms?" Cordale asked for clarity. "So we just overwhelm them with targets. I ... don't think that's in Starfleet's playbook. Not that I recall."

"How effective would shuttles and fighters be against their massive fleet?" Alex asked. "Even with this newly discovered tactical information, we're at a disadvantage, correct?"

"Precisely Lieutenant Vickers." Admiral Goddard said as he looked at the Intel Officer. "Which is why we are using Defiants and Sabers for the majority of leg work along with the Miranda and Steamrunners we procured."

The Admiral took over. "Larger Ships in this fleet will be used for transporting the Marines who will be transported to the Colony for the liberation."

"That's a bold strategy if I may say, use the small Ships to clear the way and the larger ships for the invasion." Keller commented.

"Which is why Mister Keller there will be a secondary usage." The Admiral said. "Commander Cordale you've completed your Command Courses yes?"

A pit opened up in Cordale's stomach, and the terrible demon of Doubt crept up from it. Bellowing its black curses and steamy concerns into an ear that only existed inside of Cordale's own psyche. Screaming masses of faceless citizens, each a piece of Cordale's confidence and resolve, started to evacuate on twin shuttlecrafts named Excuses and Justifications.

A Thux's mind was really an interesting place to visit.

"Y.. Yes sir. I'm a little rusty, but I can't imagine the protocols have changed much. What's on the docket?"

"We have a Squadron of Intrepid Class Starships in the Fleet which we shall be using for Planetary Landing, you shall be in Command of the USS Pioneer." Goddard commented.

Cordale didn't say anything, but just gave a nod. In truth, the Thux had kinda lost his words at the moment and was just kinda gobsmacked. If that was a word. When he did find his words, he gave another nod, "USS Pioneer. Aye."

"Commander Cuprum, you are being assigned Command of the Defiant Class USS Fearless." Goddard said to the Betazoid.

Bertrand's face had been black the moment the Admiral had started handing out jobs. He gritted his teeth on the words and curses that played across the teleprompter of his mind before managing, "Aye, sir. Get in the line of fire and try and over heat them. One shot slow guns can take us out, but there are twenty of us, and we are hard to aim at."

"Commander Tajor you are to be the Executive Officer to Cordale and Lieutenant Vickers you are to be assigned as the XO to the Fearless." Goddard gave out his orders.

Alex didn't have any command experience and against his normal protocol, allowed his reaction to be visibly seen with a large raise of the eyebrows. "Yes sir..."

Bertrand nodded to him, "Sorry you got the short straw, son."

Ziyal nodded, "Yes sir."

Bertrand asked, "How long do we have to prep the ships?"

"Two Hours." Was the response.

Ziyal winced mentally at that. The prep time was short, she would prefer a week at minimum to work up a new crew.

Bertrand kept his questions flowing, "Reports I have read speak about a zealous conversion of the colony; that any survivors from a 're-education' fleet are left as fanatically committed to the Jenarri as one of their own kind. If ground forces find they are fighting our own people, what is the plan? Scorched earth exterminatus? Withdrawal?"

"Unfortunately Commander we are going to cross that particular Bridge when we come to it." The Caitan General commented. "Right now our main focus is to engage the Fleet and deploy Marines to retake the Planet. It's Federation Turf and we are going to show them that they don't mess with us on our own doorstep."

Goddard nodded. "General R'trek is correct since we don't know the state of the colony we can't formulate a hypothesis." He then pulled up a list. "Samedi, Mordin and McCarver you are assigned to the Fearless."

At that revelation Hel spat out her coffee, staring at Goddard with a look of surprise. Surely she believed she would've stayed onboard the Victory as acting chief engineer. She recovered quickly though and set down her cup. "Alright. Aye Sir. USS Fearless."

"With respects, Admiral, I'd like you to reconsider taking my assistant away from the ship she knows as well as the back of her hand and assigning her to a craft with only two hours to prep." Cordale spoke up. "Knowing the limits of a ship's reactor and her tolerances along the EPS systems is vital in any military engagement, and if the Victory loses power due to the Jennarri weaponry, every second counts in restoring it." Cordale made the case. "And Hel's got my confidence while I'm off ship."

"Two hours is enough time to prep." spoke Hel, cradling her coffee in her hands. "I understand and appreciate Commander Cordale's concerns, but two hours prep time is fine. Halsey can oversee Victory while we're gone. I know it's not ideal, but they wouldn't have asked me to take the Fearless if they had a better option available."

"Alright." Goddard commented.

Jamie shifted on her feet, Slightly unnerved, probably because of her lack of interaction with anyone except Bertrand, Shaking her head slightly Jamie adjusted her position puffing her chest out slightly and nodded, excepting her task.

"I'd like to request we have our Delecari soldier assigned to the Fearless," Bertrand asked. "She, they, have experience coordinating multiple ships into attack patterns, more so than anyone in this fleet. I could use their insight."

"Her." Valeria corrected in a quiet hush, almost as a reflex.

"Her insight," Bertrand allowed.

"Request approved."

"Doctor, Ensign Bailey and Captain Jones you are assigned to the Pioneer." Goddard then looked at the others. "Captain Michaels since you are the most experienced Commander in this fleet with knowledge of the Jennarri you are being assigned as 2IC to the fleet."

Todd had to honest within himself, he was quite surprised he'd been chosen to be placed on any ship other than remain of the Victory, however, he swore that he would give his all to fulfil his duty.

"Aye Sir" he replied quietly.

"Aye Sir." Was all Elijah could muster to say.

"Commander Evans and Wescott will be assigned to you as your XO and Second Officer respectively, Lieutenant Lin and Tarlee you'll be assigned to Victory along with Lieutenant Keller and Kayne."

"Aye, sir." Lin replied, dreading what was about to come next. This did not seem to be any ordinary foe they were against. "I'll take any post you need."

Alex had not dealt with the Jennarri before; but, could see the passion and anger when he crew mates spoke. After finding a moment to interject, he asked "Admiral, what happens if this makeshift fleet fails?"

"Then Starfleet will implement Strategy Alpha, all our assets in the Gamma Quadrant and the Delta Quadrant will be returned to Federation Space to be prepared for full scale conflict." Goddard commented. "Mothballed Ships will be recalled to service and all Officers and Crewmen will be called to duty."

"W...wi...will they al...als...also re-activate retired p...personnel Admiral?" Todd asked quietly.

"No Ensign they will not." Goddard said to him.

"Make no mistake about this Ladies and Gentlemen, the Federation has not seen a substantial threat of this magnitude since the Dominion and the Borg." Goddard commented firmly to the assembled Officers. "We will not allow Religion or persecution to dictate the very freedoms we embrace in our Society."

Bertrand raised his eyebrow. He wondered how the Bajorans and Vulcans in the room would feel about the dismissal of religion. Still, not his issue.

"Right," he got to his feet, "If there is nothing else, I have a ship and crew to prep and a suicide assault to lead. Fearless crew on the transporter pads in ten minutes!"

"Alright you are dismissed." Goddard said as he acknowledged the gathering and then proceeded to leave.