The No-Win Scenario (Part 3 of 3)

Posted on 19 Nov 2017 @ 12:12pm by Commander Andreus Kohl & Lieutenant Lake ir-Llantrisant & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Commander Luke Wyatt & Lieutenant Amaranai Franklin & Commander Marisa Wyatt
Edited on on 18 May 2019 @ 6:48pm

3,045 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - Emanation
Location: Earth - Starfleet Academy, Kobayashi Maru Simulator
Timeline: MD 32, 1107 Hrs

[CONTINUED]

Finally, Jasper thought to himself as he began to enter the course correction. "Course two four two mark five seven one, warp four mark," Jasper repeated as a series of commands brought them to warp four.

"Break Warp, come about two nine three mark seven five eight, move to warp five." Jennifer commanded.

"Aye, Captain," Jasper called out.

Gravash looked up from his engineering panel. "The klingon vessels damaged our positioning thrusters, ma'am. We're rerouting power and there is a damage control team making repairs, but we can only go forward at this moment."

At her OPS station, Addy was working hard to maintain the power to the shields by rerouting everything except for propulsion, weapons and life support. They didn't need anything else. And even though Addy knew that she wasn't going to die, her adrenaline had kicked in and she was afraid. She just hoped that with her and the engineer, they would be able to get maneuverability back.

"Course correction zero three seven mark two two theee." Jennifer barked out. Inside her frustration was growing as she now knew this was a setup, they were not leaving this simulation alive, but she would be damned if she simply gave up.

Jasper's features remained neutral though he was ready to start screaming. "Sorry, ma'am," he began through a clenched jaw. "Positioning thrusters are out." The Tellarite had already explained it, but it seemed it needed to be repeated. "I cannot make any course corrections, we are still moving forward on our current heading."

Jemima searched for something that could help them win against the Klingons. They had broken the treaty and even though she didn't like the captain's decision to blow up the Maru, she was totally on board with destroying the Klingons at this moment. There had to be a way to blind the Klingon sensors.

Suddenly the room shook violently as the consoles before the cadets lit up. The information provided indicated the ship has somehow sustained a direct hit to the engines dropping the vessel out of warp. Once the ship was dropped out of warp, the three Klingons vessels unleashed a barrage of firepower onto the ship, one of which scored a direct hit to the ship's port nacelle. Readings would now indicate a warp core breach was imminent.

"The simulation is complete, you're all dead." Came a voice over the intercom as the room went from a red hue to the bright white light it had been when the cadets first entered.

Jemima knew they were supposed to die. That the program was to see how they dealt with failure. But this was beyond plausible. Couldn't the program at least make it look like they died realistically? She just shook her head. Very quietly, she quoted T. S. Eliot. "This is the way the world ends, not with a bang, but a whimper." That cheered her considerably. There was still a lot she could learn from this.

Addy did not like to fail. In fact, she had only done so twice in her life and both of those times were before she entered the Academy. However, she knew that no matter what she or the rest of the crew did during this mission, they would all fail. She didn't have anything to say, but knew that she would call out the cadet in charge during her debrief and recommend that she consider taking remedial classes in understanding the value of human and canine life. Addy chose to stare at the blank screen in front of her instead of at the rest of the crew - she didn't want them to see the small tears forming in her eyes.

Gravash sat back in his seat, relieved this scenario was over. He always hated "volunteering" for the exercise, but this one was going down as the biggest mistake ever. He got up and marched over to Armstrong. " You're crazy. I will refuse to serve on any ship you're on."

Jennifer remained expressionless not moving to acknowledge Gravash's statement. The weight of defeat held her to the chair as once again she found a way to lose. This time however was different, instead of the usual self-loathing she felt a growing anger from within as time carried on. She purses her lips as her mind ran the scenario though and images of the possible endings to this test played out.

This wasn't right. She thought to herself.

T'Ping pursed her lips. It was a terrible display of emotions. Everyone knew or should know going in that the test was designed to not be survivable but test how cadets reacted. The fact that they had all been 'killed' seemed to have gotten to some of them including if she judged correctly the cadet in the command chair. She said nothing yet awaiting to see if the admiral was going to speak first.

"Well, damn," Jasper muttered just loud enough for the immediate area to here. He wanted to slam his fists down on the console, but honestly, it was futile and he didn't need to get into any more trouble. He hated to lose, but how could they have won with ineptness in the center seat? They didn't even have a chance, not with a ding-bat commanding. Nevertheless, he came into the scenario--nay advised--to volunteer for the scenario, and held up his end of the bargain. It meant now he would get to graduate, and the blemish on his record wouldn't be so damning on paper. On the tip of his tongue was something crude about how it's in bad taste to 'finish early' but thought better of that as well.

T'Ping waited a bit more and then said, "Cadets! Resume your places, there is no cause to be accusing one another. That is not how a well functioning crew works."

With reluctance the Tellerite engineer sat down, glowering at Jennifer.

West nodded to T'Ping and pushed himself off of the bulkhead he took several steps to the center of the simulator standing behinbehind the cadet in the center chair. He locked eyes with each and every cadet before looking at Gravesh "And I would have you kicked off any ship I commanded Mister." He said quietly before adding "Why does Star Fleet make cadets go through this simulation? Want to Hazzard a guess, anyone?" He paused again and swept his eyes across each face, God they were so young or he was so old.

"Could it be possibly that we want to see what you will do? If you want to know the answer ask yourself why we put you through so many psyc evals. This is the same and as far as I'm concerned you all failed. If you thought what your commanding officer was doing was so terrible relieve yourself and get the hell off the bridge." West was pissed beyond belief at the actions of the crew "It's no wonder your commanding officer failed is the crew that makes the Captain every damned bit as much as the Captain makes the crew. Think about what you could have done better and what the real reason your here is." He stopped and affixed every cadet with a cold withering stair before resuming his place at the bulkhead to listen to the instructors.

T'Ping waited until the admiral was done talking and came back to lean against the bulkhead. She moved only a bit, "I shall leave the other assessment to our other instructors. However, as a technical instructor let me just point out a few things. First off maintaining the shields was excellent routine. A dire situation requires quick thought out work, I will give you marks on that technical aspect Cadet Wyatt. Cadet Garvish, engineering could have been faster with responses. I suggest you work in simulation on that. Cadet de la Couer, in the future, when there is the suspect of cloaked ships I will leave you with this: Remember that no matter how good the cloak that one cannot hide a ship's mass. Any movement of that mass through space will cause gravitational distortions. Again, I would urge you to run through such an exercise on your own."

"Yes, ma'am," Jemima said. She hadn't even thought about checking for mass. With the Klingon ships firing, she thought it was fairly obvious where they were at the time.

Jasper hadn't' been named, though he wasn't entirely sure if he was going to be. All he did was fly the ship, he followed the orders that were given him, and though he was thinking bad things about the cadet, he didn't say them out loud. For once, the connection between his brain and mouth had clamped down. That was a personal win for himself, at least this time.

Although Commander Kohl had prepared a series of notes on his PADD with the same specificity as T'Ping's comments, he stepped forward to offer feedback as an ethics instructor first and foremost. As such, it wasn't his place to assess Armstrong's technical performance. Rather, he stepped forward with a question. It was posed not as a judgment, but as an evoker of thought. "Cadet Armstrong," Kohl asked, "by what authority did you end the lives of the Kobayashi Maru survivors as an opening gambit before attempting diplomacy?"

"I did sir." Jennifer began answering his first question. "Secondly, at the time I fired the torpedo there was no one to engage in diplomacy with. I had no indications of any vessels besides the Maru in the area. Therefore I remained in Federation space." Jennifer made sure she emphasized the point to all watching. "Prior to firing the torpedo I was faced with two other viable options. One, leave the Maru and her crew to an unknown fate or either waiting to die or being captured by a Klingon vessel giving a sworn enemy unknown assets and intelligence and once again leaving them to a date involving suffering or, attempt a rescue putting my crew at risk, entering Klingon space and plunging us into war in which millions would probably die including my crew." There was a pause as Jennifer let the instructors take in her speech, her eyes surveyed each of them as her anger fueled her rhetoric.

But as there were no other ships around, what Jennifer did was murder. It only became a viable option when Klingons were detected. Jennifer jumped the gun because she knew what was coming, not because she made the best choice at the time. But Jemima wasn't going to say that because it was quite clear to her that her point of view was not popular among the observers.

"Or maybe a dozen people die a quick death. I'm pretty sure I remember Spock saying something along the lines of the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."

Commander Kohl shook his head at that, saying, "Speaking for myself, I can't say I consider Spock the high-water mark when it comes to officer morality." Still, Kohl smirked then in an expression that resembled rakishness, and he said, "Not accounting for taste, I commend you for your commitment. You assessed the situation based on the resources available to you as a Commanding Officer, and the internal resources currently available to you as a person, and you committed to a course of action as a result. Kudos for that."

Armstrong was taken aback by the comment. She hardly expected to be given anything besides a berating much akin to the reception she had recently received from the cadets. Now, her ethics instructor of all people had commended her on her actions whilst underlining the failure of her staff in his undertones. This brought a slight smile to Jennifer's face. "Thank you sir, she replied with a slight bow of her head.

T'Ping waited and then added, "In the future though, you should make it much more clear though as in reality, a board of inquiry would want to know exactly your reasoning before you acted." As much as a Vulcan might show any emotion there was a quick play of a wry smile. "Lawyers do not take into account what actions sometimes have to be made quickly. They base everything on what there is. It might also help your crew understand your thought processes."

"Yes ma'am." Jennifer replied wondering now if an academy board of inquiry would be assembled to assess her actions. She looked on expectantly at the assessors waiting for one to step out, berate her and her actions. Despite the comment, her innerds still seethed from the loss, a fixed loss against a stacked deck.

"I detect emotional agitation in you cadet," T'Ping commented. "Now is the time and place to discharge those emotions."

Jemima decided that she should not remain silent after all. "With all due respect, ma'am, Captain Armstrong made her decision to launch torpedoes before there was any sign of Klingons. Yes, the freighter was in the Neutral Zone, but that fact alone does not equate to a death sentence. If this had been a real situation, firing on civilians without just cause is murder. Who's to say that under any other circumstances we couldn't have gone just far enough into the Neutral Zone to tow the ship to safety, or at least beam the crew aboard first. The odds were in our favor. The only reason you're letting her get away with murder is because we all know what the simulation is and that the Klingons were going to show up. Nowhere in the regulations does it say that you can blow up a ship with survivors on it just because you're afraid of what might happen."

T'Ping nodded. "Understood and hence why I recommended that the cadet in the future make a formal log entry to her thinking. She is not the first to come to this test and do something like that. Might I remind you the test in any situation will end with the destruction of the ship. An attempt to tow, or even beam out the other crew will result in an immediate attack. In this case, the Klingons would have been justified in attacking since weapons were used within the zone. Secondly, that is what the sensors indicated, it has been known for Klingons to use a hostage to lure one into place. Could things have been done different? Yes, but that is why it is a learning exercise."

West grunted in approval of the Commander's logic and noted that some of the anger in the room was dissipating. "There's hope for them yet." he said under his voice as he watched the exchanges.

T'Ping gave the admiral a nod and waited to see if he dismissed everyone or had anything more to say.

"The test was rigged and pointless." Jennifer replied sharply as her anger began to ooze out from between her teeth. "I was in Federation space, the Klingons had no right in firing back. They just escalated us into full scale war and all the simulation did was make me look stupid. Honestly this test is a crock, I either look stupid, cowardly or die a martyr. Well news flash Commander, my crew aren't worth some hunk of metal in a courtyard and I personally don't care what people think of me after I'm dead. That's the greatest part of death, you don't feel anything after." Jennifer ranted nearly announcing her words as her voice rose with her anger towards the assessors.

Luke knew how the young cadet felt, "Cadet Armstrong, Ensign Wyatt report to me as soon as the rest of the board is finished I wish to speak to you both." He said his voice stern, it was an odd sensation.

West pushed himself off of the bulkhead and nodded to the officers and cadets assembled. He had cooled off slightly since his speach and said simply.

"Listen to your instructors, and build team work. You are all dismissed." West said softly he moved to stand beside T'Ping and pointed at Jennifer "Have that cadet in my office in two hours." he would not berate her in front of the other cadets but her outburst had to be addressed.

Jemima didn't have to be asked twice. She nodded to the Admiral and followed the others out the door. She just wanted to go to the nearest lounge and get herself a meal and a stiff drink.

Addy hopped out of her seat and headed toward the exit without looking at anyone. This trial had been a joke - as it had for so many students in the past - and regardless of her actions and words, Addy was starting to regret her decision to join Starfleet.

Luke nodded to the other instructors, the entire exercise was certainly an eye opener but he wasn't finished here. He made eye contact with Abbey and then with Cadet Armstrong.

Abbey sighed, in honestly she thought this was ridiculous, it put cadets in an unwinnable scenario and expected them to perform well. She knew luke saw something different in Armstrong, the same thing she saw and didn't object to being summoned.

"Permission to be dismissed." Armstrong asked looking to each member of the assessment board. Although her volume was soft, her tone and heavy breathing indicated the Cadet was still fuming from the exercise. She had called them out on their game, and the instructors didn't like it.

"I have no objections," T'Ping said. "Admiral?" she asked.

West nodded "They can all be dismissed if you have had your say." his voice had hints of disappointment in it.

[OFF]

--

Commander Andreus Kohl
Ethics Instructor
Starfleet Academy
[PNPC ir-Llantrisant]

Grevash
Engineering cadet
[NPC Derani]

Adelaide Graves
OPS Cadet
[NPC Franklin]

Lt. Cmdr T'Ping
Science Instructor
Starfleet Academy
[NPC Warraquim]

Nathan West
Rear Admiral
Chief of Starfleet Intelligence
Starfleet HQ, Earth

Jasper Higgins
CONN Cadet
[NPC Nicols]

Lieutenant Commander Luke Wyatt
Chief of Security

Ensign Abbey St James
Security Officer
[PNPC Luke Wyatt]

Cadet Jemima de la Cour
4th Year Science Cadet
[NPC Sandoval]

Jennifer/Bethany Armstrong
Command Cadet
[PNPC Edward Bauer]

RADM Harold Doolittle
BUPers
Starfleet Command

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