Off the Rock (Part 1 of 2)

Posted on 14 Feb 2017 @ 4:20pm by Chief Warrant Officer 3 Lamar Darius & Commander Medara t'Keras & Commander Aren Ban & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Lieutenant JG Stephanie Fraiser (KIA) & Commander Marisa Wyatt & Lieutenant JG Ricardo Montoya & Ensign Miraj Derani & Senior Chief Petty Officer Martin Caine (KIA) & Chief Petty Officer Torgeir Naes & Lieutenant JG Noah Khoroushi & Ensign Oswald Goodshire
Edited on on 14 Feb 2017 @ 4:22pm

2,936 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Episode 13 - Rogue
Location: Kreanus Colony - Deck 18, Cargo Bay
Timeline: MD 15 - 1530 hrs

[ON]

The two weeks of captivity at Kreanus Colony had no doubt been stressful for many of the surviving Galileo crew. Captivity was perhaps a loose term to describe their predicament, for they had been free to roam the colony and assist with daily operations yet unable to leave of their own free will. They were not prisoners, but concurrently, were not free people. Not until their purpose was fulfilled, that was.

The call had gone out from Medara to Commander Ban several hours prior for him to assemble the remaining crew of the Federation starship. In addition, Medara and her intelligence personnel had become aware of several other Federation crew members from different starships who also wanted to join the crew and partake in the pending mission. Medara didn't mind the consolidations and in fact thought it a subtle gesture of her kindness to allow the reconciliation between the crews. Ultimately, she hoped, it would help achieve a greater chance of mission success.

The door to one of the colony's large cargo bays slowly opened for her and she stepped in as other Starfleet personnel were filing in. She stepped to the side to make her presence obscure enough to be unnoticed by only the senior-most of the Federation officers.

Martin walked in holding JJ, he noticed the Romulan standing to one side of the door. Commander Ban had told him not to pick a fight so he found a nice crate for Steph to sit on. "Should be fun, today?"

Steph grinned as she sat and leant into him. "Not sure our idea of fun matches with others." She had been making life uncomfortable for her Klingon captors. In reality she could have had their solid state holograms for them in about a day or two of being there but she wasn't giving them a weapon to be used on others.

"It's is okay they seemed to lose interest, I think what I did to the guard in the water reclamation centre taught them that I will find a way to fight back. Then once we started getting involved with the Galileo crew they decided fighting through Commander Ban wasn't a good way to get me. I am proud of you holding out because what is the point of giving a warrior race a way to make non-killable soldier, unless you get a lucky shot on the holo projector." Martin said with a smile, "Unless maybe it is for fleet. Could give fleet the ability to get rid of the Marines."

She gave him a shy grin at his compliment still not used to receiving them. "Or take away the need for crewmen to go outside and put themselves at risk with hull breaches in areas of space that are highly toxic to most races... at least if I can solve the power issues. The more time they interact with something physical the shorter their power lasts."

You'll get it, just stop trying so hard. it will come when it is supposed to." Martin said, he knew this briefing wasn't going to be easy to hear.

Nodding she rested her head on his shoulder as they waited for the others to turn up. This wasn't going to be a fun briefing by any means.

Things had been surprisingly quiet in the clinic lately and on getting the summons he had taken the time to stop by and get Oz on his way to the hanger. His friends demotion hadn't bothered him as much as the event that had made the demotion necessary. During the time to get to the bay they hadn't discussed the situation at all though Rico knew it had cost Oz a great deal of trust among the senior staff as revenge wasn't an accepted activity for an officer. Entering the bay Rico nodded to those present even as Oz looked for a corner to hide in.

Martin waved in acknowledgement as Rico and someone he hadn't met yet entered and he said to Steph "Remind me to go meet the new officer at the end of this meeting honey, as CoB I should get to know as many of you lot as I can so I can help with junior crew under them."

Marisa and Petra walked in together. Marisa paused for a moment to look around and identify those already present. She noticed a Romulan and gave the woman a half-bow, then continued on, nodding in greeting to Martin and Stephanie.

She recognized Rico from the previous meeting and nodded to him, as well. Then she found a seat where she could observe.

Petra followed her friend, waving to those she'd met before. She really didn't know anyone well, but was grateful for the opportunity joining the Galileo group afforded her.

Martin recognised the new arrivals as the ladies he spoke with at the memorial and staff meeting in the mess hall. He waved with a smile. One was more timid and less talkative than the other but in the situation of losing many friends like all that had served on the USS Galileo he could understand her personal withdrawal.

Allyndra entered the bay. It seemed every idea to get something out had been for naught. The shuttle which she had depended on had been discovered already, and in fact lay in pieces on the shuttle bay. No time to put any real sabotage into place, they had just gotten to the point of figuring out what was vulnerable and could get away with and still make it look like failing infrastructure. Well Allyndra thought to herself, it has not been for lack of trying. Some probably would have worked sooner or later but there was obviously a big rush on the Romulans and the general's part and perhaps they knew that several hundred not real happy captives would sooner or later make trouble.

Martin watched where Allyndra's eyes went as she came in then said "Seems like they found the sabotage Ma'am!"

"What sabotage?" Allyndra replied. "The various malfunctions from inexperienced personnel is what I call it." She gave a slight bemused smile.

"Yes ma'am that is what I meant," Martin said with a wink. "You can never trust the juniors to fix it properly without supervision."

Lamar walked through the cargo bay doors unceremoniously and with a somewhat-diluted expression spread across his dark features. He'd gotten word from his supervisor, Jonas, of a required meeting for all the surviving Galileo personnel -- a notice that should have filled him with hope and optimism along with the chance to reconcile with those he knew. For some reason, however, his enthusiasm wavered when he stepped into the bay and saw his fellow crew mates. Half of them looked disheveled and in poor physical shape; some should have been there but were missing... dead he presumed; and others were new faces who he'd never seen before. He felt lost despite the reunion, and did his best to keep his head down and trudge toward an open spot on the floor to patiently wait.

Miraj arrived, wrapped in a blanket against the cold, and looked for any familiar faces. Seeing Lamar looking miserable, she knew she had to try and cheer him up. It was kind of her job since he was technically her responsibility as he was part of her department, even if they didn't have a ship right now. She trotted over to him. "Penny for them?" she asked.

He looked up and over to Derani. He hadn't noticed her arrival which was strange because the mass of bright pink hair usually gave her away. He blinked while trying to understand what she'd just said. "Huh? What's a 'penny'?" he wondered.

"Its a coin. From a zillion years ago on earth." She held up her thumb and for finger in a ring. "About this big. Are you okay?"

A coin. He didn't really know what that was, but assumed it was back from the days when his people used physical currencies to exchange goods. A long-lost memory of the past. "Yeah...I'm fine," he replied, giving her a sudden grin in an attempt to wash the bad feelings from his features. "Jonas' been keeping me busy. Think I've just been tired more than anything else," he admitted. "What about you?"

"I'm good. I mean I need a proper shower and clothes that fit and I would probably commit murder for a jam sandwich but other than that, it could be worse. We must be going home soon, and I'll get to fly again." She looked happy and excited at the thought.

Food sounded good to him. The thought of a home-cooked meal, some good barbecue, mashed potatoes, and mac and cheese filled his thoughts. A warm shower with actual water would also be nice. "I hope you're right," he said, slowly beginning to fantasize about the creature comforts he'd been deprived of for the past weeks.

Torgeir quirked a bit of a smile at the remark, a pace or so behind Miraj before finding a place to settle. Crispin, he was sure, was about somewhere, though he hadn't seen the man coming in.

A young girl, dressed in a dark military style jacket wandered in. She had blonde hair, and bright blue eyes. "Erm..." she said. "My name is Erica Hartmann. Is this the Galileo crew in here?" she asked looking around.

An unfamiliar voice roused Lamar from his thoughts. He turned his head and took sight of the blonde woman who's entered and raised his hand to confirm her question. "We're here. Most of us, at least." Considering many of the crew had been scattered throughout the underground facility, it might take a bit of time for everyone to arrive and get organized.

Aren stood before the crew of the Galileo. He listened to the banter, and while part of him was a little alarmed that those with the crew would openly talk about sabotage or even joke about it. Part of him wanted to rebuke those that were, but he had to remember that this was just now becoming his crew, and if he was to get them home they needed to trust him, and they needed to work together. “Thank you all for coming, please be seated.” He said, naturally projecting his voice over those who talking, indicating that is time to get to business.

“First of all, I wanted to that thank you all for assisting in maintenance and repairs to the colony. The colony administrators, and I don’t mean our captor, have expressed their deepest thanks.” He paused for a moment, looking over everyone assembled. “Next on the agenda is the reason we are all assembled. I am going to put it bluntly. We are leaving Kreanus, but not yet back to the Federation.” He waited for a moment as murmurs suddenly erupted amongst the crew. “Please, let me finish.” He took a deep breath, knowing that the next part of this briefing was going to be the most difficult. “The Romulan commanders have expressed their desire and their need for our help. The Klingon High Council has been encouraging, though not directly ordering, Klingon forces to conduct raids into Federation space in search of the general. While the High Council doesn’t quite know where in the nebula the general is hiding and in effect where Kreanus is, they do know he is here. As a result Federation vessels specifically civilian vessels have been damaged. While it still mostly isolated and with small houses trying to earn favor in ridding the galaxy of the general, there has been an increase in the number and relative firepower of the vessels being deployed. Tensions because of this are already high and there is a risk of this spreading out into other sectors within Federation space and potentially sparking an armed conflict.” He paused for a moment letting that sink in. “The commanders want us to take a Klingon ship to Qo’nos, and talk to the High Council. We needed to convince the Council to stop sending ships into Federation space in search of the general. Once we accomplish that, we will get to go home. I know this is a lot to ask many of you, and the journey to Qu’nos seems to be close to a month, about 3 weeks if we don't encounter any problems. That is a time aboard a Klingon ship, where we will be the primary crew. We won’t be the only ones aboard, the general will be sending some of his people…to better assist us in our mission.” He said the last sentence leaving an awful taste in his mouth. He looked around the room. He could feel there defiance. ” He scanned the crowd for moment. "The command staff and I have discussed this in detail and we feel that this is our best bet to get home, and give justice to those that were lost."

Miraj raised a hand. "If Ko'raH is the problem, why aren't they just giving him the black spot and telling him to make sail?"

Aren smiled thinly. "Part of the reason is that the general does still have a sizable following. He has many followers and those who are still loyal to the Empire, even if certain elements within the empire want him gone. This is touchy because it is not the High Council that sanctioning these raids and attacks. Part of the reason the citizens of Kreanus want us to go to the Qu'nos is so that we can have the High Council officially order a stop to these, lets call them, rouge elements. In that regard it allows both the Federation and the Empire to act in a manner that wont be seen as aggressive to either side. If the general was just given over, yes that might stop some of the raids, but then his followers, or those still loyal to his house may not be so inclined. While they may stop in the shot term, there are some long term implications about honor and duty that must be considered if we are to have lasting stability." Aren said, hoping that he answered her question.

Miraj had the sort of grasp of international politics as the jelly fish had of quantum mechanics. She didn't understand it at all, but the commander seemed confident, so she just nodded a little and looked to see if anyone else had a question.

"Uh, sir?" Lamar raised his hand slight and stepped forward. "Chief Darius here," he quickly introduced himself to the new commander before continuing. "How are we supposed to actually get to Qo'noS and talk to the High Council?" He glanced nervously from side to side for a short moment. "Last I heard, the Klingon homeworld was off-limits for us Federation folks."

Aren turned his attention to Lamar. "As I mentioned earlier, we will taking a Klingon vessel. I believe a D-7 and while we may be the primary crew, there will be Klingons aboard to assist us as needed." He said pausing for a moment to consider the second part of his question. "But yes Qo'nos is usually off limits to most of those in the Federation, which is why we are taking a Klingon ship. Does that answer you question chief?" Aren asked, an eyebrow raises.

Terje found himself more of a mind with Miraj - why waste what limited resources they had to solve the Klingons' problems? They had been sucked into tho this ordeal against their will; even with the typical Fleet charge, were they really obligated to sort this matter out? He shrugged, reasoning that it was for this that he was grateful not to have a position requiring him to actually make these decisions.

"Right..." the chief warrant officer nodded having grasped that part of the plan. "But how are we supposed to really get to Qo'noS?" he asked again, trying his best to elaborate upon his question. "I might be wrong, but just because we have a cloaking device doesn't mean we'll be invisible, right? I thought there's sensor stations lining each side of the Neutral Zone? How are we supposed to get through and make it all the way to their homeworld without being discovered?"

"Due to operational security, I will not divulge that information at this time. Once we depart, I will inform the crew as to how we plan to get close to Qo'noS. Further more, we will have a couple of weeks to war game and improve our insertion." Aren said, in a tone that welcomed further questions, but also one that would not elaborate anymore on this topic. "Do you have any more questions?"

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

CMDR Medara t'Keras
Colony Administrator
Kreanus Colony
[PNPC Ko'raH]

CWO2 Lamar Darius
Support Craft Pilot
USS Galileo
[PNPC Ko'raH]

Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical and Second Officer
USS Galileo

CMDR Aren Ban
Executive Officer
USS Galileo

Ensign Miraj Derani
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant JG Marisa Sandoval
Counselor
USS Galileo

SCPO Martin Caine
Chief of the Boat (CoB)
USS Galileo

Petra Varelli
Forensic Anthropologist
USS Galileo
[PNPC Sandoval]

LTJG Stephanie Fraiser
Chief Research Officer
USS Galileo

CPO Torgeir Naes
Security/Tactical Officer
USS Galileo

LTJG Noah Khoroushi
Asst. Chief Operations Officer
USS Galileo
[PNPC Naes]

LTJG Rico Montoya
Medical Officer
USS Galileo

ENS Oswald Goodshire
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo
[PNPC Montoya]

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