#2 Mission Briefing

Posted on Tue May 17th, 2022 @ 12:47pm by Captain Rogue Green {Meji} & Captain Sean Silk & Commodore Cyndi Song & Lieutenant Tara Herculoid PhD & Lieutenant James McTavish & Lieutenant Alister McKeon & 1st Lieutenant Greg Jackson

Mission: Rescue On Romulus
Location: Conference Room
Timeline: Current

ON:

After a call from Admiral Wilson Cyndi headed for the bridge "Communications we've received new orders, call all senior staff to the conference. room,"

"Acknowledged,"

Thanking her Cyndi walked into the conference room to await her officers

Alister entered the briefing room taking a seat lowering himself gingerly into the chair. “Ma’am,” he said with a nod of his head.

Lt Odac Yova also entered and took his position being the Chief of Engineering.

Greg slid in into a seat with a nod to the Commodore and Alister, “Do we have a new mission assignment?”


Tara, Alesha and Kristian walked in just in time to hear the question about new orders.

"Yes we have new orders, and as soon as everyone is here I'll fill everyone in," Cyndi answered

James and Heather were next to arrive as James gave a nod to Command and his fellow Officers before taking their seats waiting to hear what Star Fleet had in store for them next.

Kahn and Green had been in the same lift to the Bridge, so walked across the command deck and into the conference room. "Hello, everyone," said Liza as she went took the XO's chair.

Ro went to the far end of the table, opposite Song, taking a seat. S.Ops didn't have a designated seat.

"Thank you all for coming. We've received orders, we're to head to Romulus and rescue four insurgents who were sent there undercover, their cover has been blown and currently we're unsure of where they are or if they're even alive. If they are alive how badly injured they may be. A long range shuttle is going to dock with us and will have aboard two Romulan diplomats that we're to take to Romulus. They do not know about our orders and it's to remain that way. They'll be treated as honored guests," Cyndi said

Kristian glanced quickly between Alesha and Tara but said nothing to let on how they were feeling "Sick bay will be ready commodore."

"Commodore crossing the neutral zone is an act of war," Tara commented keeping her voice even

"That's true but we'll have the diplomats aboard so we can cross without fear of attack."

" I would keep Lt Thoros away from them. He has a Klingon opinion about everything." Yova warned.

“What makes these operatives so special,” Alister asked from his seat with a frown, “It’s understood that a blown cover on a deep cover mission means you’re written off.”

After listening to everyone's responses James chimed in "So once we arrive at Romulus who and how are we going to navigate a rescue Op" he queried "I would think that any attempt would have to be massively covert; of course I'm certainly no expert in this area I'm just asking the obvious."

"The four insurgents are, Lieutenants Roger Wilks, Lieutenant Sam Jones, Lieutenant Commander Martha West and Private Elaine Sabin," Cyndi said reading over the information she had "They've been on Romulus for roughly five years. They were sent there to infiltrate the Tal Shier, learn about them, how they operate and see if something similar can be created in the Federation separate from Section 31. The rescue will have to be done carefully so we don't start an incident with the Romulans. We'll also need someone who speaks fluent Romulan and I know three officers on this ship who speak it fluently. As far as Lieutenant Thoros he'll do as ordered. Question now is do we use the marines or the infiltration specialist or both?"

“With all do respects who ever came up with that plan needs his head cracked open and examined,” Alister said from his seat, “Any shuttles we send to the surface will be tracked, transporter’s cycling will be tracked. The embassy is under constant surveillance, and all personal leaving are tailed. Anything that spikes on their radar and they’ll order us to leave the system, not to mention we need an excuse to even remain in orbit after dropping off the diplomats.”

"He's right commodore," Tara said

"Then to give the rescue a chance we'll invite the higher ups from Romulus to a formal dinner aboard the ship," Cyndi remarked "That should throw things off the rescue operation."

Green had sat and listened, letting all discuss options and reasons. After the Commodore finished her last bit Ro decided to finally speak up. "That's all fine and good, Commodore, but Romulans are, by their very nature, both paranoid and xenophobic. The belief of D'era is drilled into them from the time they can walk, and that means that every Romulan who buys into their military industrial complex is a zealot, and believe the Romulans are destined to rule this galaxy. We need to stay on our toes with this."

"Agreed," said Kahn. "To think that Romulans will respond to everything like we would is foolhardy. Always keep your cool, always keep you senses on high. Romulans have a very unique form of honor and they will do everything in their power to save face. You insult them or even give a hint of duplicity then the game is up and we lose." Pausing a moment, Liza went on. "The fact that we're delivering these diplomats of theirs, instead of asking them to send a runabout to gather them, will have them suspicious from the get-go. I speak Rihannsu, all three dialects, due to Kahn's memories."

"I am bilingual in Rihannsu, as well," stated Green. "All three dialects. My past Intelligence work saw to that. The Romulans are very moral, Commodore. They have an absolute certainty about what is right and what is wrong, who is a friend and who is an enemy, a strict moral compass which provides them with a clarity of purpose. Romulans are predictably treacherous and we need to keep that in mind if we are to bring any of them aboard this ship."

Liza jumped in again. "That's not to say that there aren't those Romulans who oppose the strict Star Empire, and its ideals. However, saying anything against the regime will get you imprisoned for slave labor, or executed, so they remain hidden, trying to effect change subtly."

Tara, Kristian and Alesha exchanged knowing looks, Kristain was about to say something but a warning shake of Tara's head and Kristain nodded.

"I speak fluent Romulan as does Doctor Long and Lieutenant Rivers. I also know first hand what the Romulans can do to someone. I've witnessed it first hand. My planet was attacked and occupied by them for several years until we were able to break free. We drove them from my planet. To say I don't trust them is an understatement. It's my theory that the insurgents are being held then I highly doubt they're on Romulus, there is a moon that they use to keep prisoners. I know and I know what moon it is. It's not easy to get on. My guess is that's where they're being held," Tara said

"You can count me in on any rescue mission," Kristain said "They'll need medical attention."

"My personal fighter can cloak, that will get us on the moon and if you'll permit it I'll launch, cloak it and scan the moon Tara's talking about and report back," Alesha said.

"So much for the Treaty of Algeron," said Liza. The Treaty of Algeron was a peace treaty signed between the United Federation of Planets and the Romulan Star Empire in 2311, following the events of the Tomed Incident.

The treaty reinforced and redefined the Romulan Neutral Zone, and made clear that any violations of the Zone without adequate notification, by either side, would be considered an act of war. The treaty also expressly prohibited the development or use of cloaking device technology by the Federation. ~If we get caught then Amandora will be responsible for the next Federation/Romulan war~

"Active scans can be tracked and detected," Said Kahn, as a reminder. "Passive scans won't be detected but it means that you'll have to get that much closer for specifics. If you get spotted at any time, and they track you back to Amandora, then we will be throwing our own beloved government back into another prolonged conflict."

Green sat in her chair, fully leaned back and relaxed as she rubbed her chin and listened. This could be done, but it would take a considerable amount of skill on everyone's part. Especially when it comes to a species who truly understand cloaking technology since they had developed it centuries earlier. Klingons got their cloak tech by capturing Romulan vessels, executing the crew, then reverse engineering their systems. Hell, the Bird of Prey is a Romulan design. They were small scout ships with a dozen or so crew aboard. Small, agile craft that could escape notice due to their size. The Klingons had captured one and had fallen in love with the design, reverse engineering the craft and then building their own class, the Brel. Of course, being Klingons, they were able to expand on the technology and began building the larger Bird of Prey known as the K'vort class; a fast attack frigate capable of cloaking for hit and run tactics. To say that the Romulans were not pleased with one of their best designs being copied and used against them would be an understatement. Therefore, the Romulan military decided to do away with the BoP as they had designed it, and went back to building them with a complete Romulan design.

All this passed through Ro's mind as she sat and listened.

"At the time we got the cloak Amzock was not part of the Federation," Tara said "Alesha is a skilled pilot she can do the scans. I'm also aware of the treaty that the Federation has with the Romulan Empire. We were able to acquire the cloak and it's been modified enough that I doubt they can trace it."

"That and I can modulate the frequency to keep them off guard," Alesha said.

“That’s if they’re on the moon, if they haven’t been captured then they could be anywhere,” Alister said from his seat, “Dinner can buy us a few hours if they accept the invitation. Has anyone discussed a prisoner exchange? I can think of a few Romulan operatives we have stashed away.”

" Engineering can divert power from the holodecks to maintain a cloaking field Commodore."

"A prisoner exchange has not been brought up," Cyndi commented as she turned to the chief engineer "Lieutenant the Amandora does not have a cloaking device. Currently the only craft aboard that is able to cloak is Lieutenant Rivers personal fighter."

"And I'll only cloak it under orders from the commodore," Alesha said

"Lieutenant Herculoid if memory serves me right your people and the Romulan Empire do not have a treaty. Have you ever considered getting one started? With you aboard it's the perfect time," Cyndi asked

"I don't have that authority commodore," Tara said "Alistar if the insurgents are anywhere they'll be on that moon."

After listening to all the comments James spoke up "From what I'm hearing it sounds like we'll need a few people for this Op....the Infiltration Specialist and of course Lieutenant Commander Green since she was the one who brought the Commodore back home to us or anyone else who is qualified especially considering the time constraints we'll be under."

“No, any department heads have to remain on the Amandora or be somewhere the Romulans can keep an eye on, if someone is missing it’s going to raise a red flag,” Alister said from his seat, “If they have been captured and taken to the moon then it’s too late a direct attack on the prison would be as good as declaring open war.”

Greg sighed from his seat, “We can bust open a prison and get our people out but it won’t be quiet or very covert. Also we’ll more then likely take casualties maybe heavy depending on what they’ve got waiting for us. I’ve tangled before with Romulans and their Reman commandos, they're not push overs and the speed we would need to move would lead to casualties.”

Green then sat up, forearms on the table as she used her hands to motion as she spoke. "I agree with Greg and Alister. I worked in the Bajor sector for a few years and have aided Romulan defectors numerous times. There is no accurate number for defensive starships since lowly officers and civilians are not privy to such information. The few I interviewed Stated in affidavit after affidavit that the rumored number is no less than twenty warbirds, cloaking and uncloaking randomly so that no accurate assessment can be made. They will clear a path to Romulus and then surround us while cloaked, ready to pounce at a moment's notice, and to keep an eye on us. Alister is correct, any change in our command staff for away purposes may cause further suspicion." She glanced around the table. "We have the best crew in the fleet, in my opinion. If anyone other than Kirk can cross the Neutral Zone and muck with the Romulans, it's us. Relax, stay frosty, move steadily and not in a rush, and we'll get this done. As Silk likes to say; Improvise, overcome, adapt." She gave a grin.

Kahn was glad to see that the briefing was not a bunch of arguing and negative emotions. Planning things out correctly was paramount to success. "So far we have a plan. Now, all we need are the bodies to do it."

"We can sit here all day and speculate or we can formulate a plan. We're several hours from the neutral zone. The two diplomats will be arriving in about three hours. Once they're aboard I'll speak to them about inviting some of their people aboard for dinner. Lieutenant Herculoid what do you know about the moon that you mentioned?" Cyndi said

"I've been there, my mum was being held there after they invaded my planet. Conditions are harsh. It's cold, there is little to no sunlight. There are facilities on the surface that can hold prisoners but any high level prisoners are held underground in cells. I'm talking old Earth type with bars, the only difference there is the bars are strung with high voltage electrical current. You get within three feet and your dead. It's my guess that is where the Federation prisoners are being held. The only way into that part of the moon is by air," Tara replied turning to Alesha "You've flown it, when your mum freed my mum. That people is about the only way we're going to get in there. Alesha's fighter can get in, run scans and report back. But it will have to cloak to do so and personally I'd feel a lot better if she took someone with her."

"My fighter can hold the cloak for a number of hours. If you chose to go that route may I suggest I launch it when we stop to pick up the diplomats. So not to be picked up I can cloak it and have it beamed into space same with returning I'll have to be beamed back," Alesha replied "The tunnels are narrow. Tara went in with my mum in mum's fighter. While narrow you can maneuver in there. That is commodore, Commander Kahn if you chose to go that route."

Kahn gave a nod. "I'm not opposed." She looked at Cyndi.

“I find the while mission suspect and will be putting my opposition on record and sending one to Starfleet Intelligence,” Alister said from his seat, “That being said, LTJG Dunjen would be my pick to send in.”

Green remained seated but had a faraway look on her face for a few moments as the others spoke. The images that flashed in her mind were disconcerting. But, this was not the time to analyze her own visions. "I think this mission will get worse before it gets better, but I am on board with how you wish to proceed, Commodore. The Vulcan IDIC comes to mind; the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one. Let's get this done and get back home."

Liza caught the subtle warning that Ro was trying to relay to the table without actually coming out and saying it. The needs of the many: the crew. Outweighs the needs of a few: the prisoners. Or the one: which meant Green herself. "I couldn't have said it better myself, Ro. Commodore, I think we need to break and get to preparing for all we have to accomplish."

Cyndi nodded "Lieutenant Rivers prep your fighter, when we stop to pick up our guests, I'll order your fighter beamed into space. Take Lieutenant Nix with you, remain cloaked and do not engage unless your left with no other choice. Scan and report back to myself, Commander Kahn and we'll relay your scans to all who need them. I don't need to tell you to be careful. Questions anyone?"

Green and Kahn both said no, with Green standing and adjusting her uniform accordingly. "I'll effort to gather an accurate assessment of Romulan resources in this sector. This close to the Neutral Zone it wouldn't surprise me if there were cloaked scouts out there being used as listening posts. If I may?" Liza told her she was fine so Ro departed the briefing room.

"I'm good, Commodore," said Kahn as she stood and gathered her PADD. "Mister McKeon, your opposition is noted and added to the ship's log. Anyone else?"

No one else had anything further to add so Liza acknowledged that and dismissed the group, thanking them for assembling. The room cleared as Kahn returned to the Bridge.

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