Baptism By Fire: Prologue
Posted on 2024, Fri Aug 30th, @ 5:59pm by Commander Vanessa Shepard 's & Commander Annika Hansen 'S & Vice Admiral Katie Snow & Commodore Emily Janeway & Captain Liam Shaw & Captain Olivia Smith & Commander Selk & Commander MOO Richardson IX & Lieutenant Commander Cormac Situs & Lieutenant Evelyn Sommers & Admiral Christopher Townsend & Lieutenant Aubrie Fox
Edited on on 2024, Fri Aug 30th, @ 6:04pm
2,528 words; about a 13 minute read
Mission:
Baptism By Fire
Location: Varys
Timeline: 2 months Later After Revenge Of Group Omega
Tags: Gorn, Diplomacy, Diplomacy Mission, Ambassador, Gorn Mission, Resolute, Resolute Mission, USS Resolute, Enterprise, Voyager
Part 1: Enroute to the Gorn
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The Resolute was on a joint mission with the Enterprise and Voyager. As the relationship with the Gorn was a shaky one. But they needed access to their Dilithium mines and other precious materials. Open communication was open between ship comms as they warped around the same time. The Resolute would be the first to arrive. The tensions were high, as none expected to have to meet with the Gorn leadership. They were quick to hostilities but Starfleet had trust in it's ambassadors. The ship would beep and hum as it flew through warp, Crew at the consoles. It wasn't that long since the Resolute had Ambassador Spock aboard in the midst of a crisis situation.
But the ship was tested and prepared to handle anything that the mission may throw at them.
Katie Snow, the Ambassador assign to this mission walked into the bridge, small, but it worked its purpose.
Commander Selk was sitting next to the captains on the bridge of the Resolute and hadn't felt something this good even though yes he is a Vulcan. However, he did look at the captain. "Captain. Might I suggest the best course of action is be on yellow alert and with shields up before we run into the Gorn. Even though yes I know you know that but I feel like I had best mention it to you sir." Commander Selk had told the captain on the Resolute.
Commodore Janeway prepared the crew of the USS Voyager for a mission to join the fleet in dealing with the formidable Gorns on a delicate diplomatic assignment. The atmosphere was charged with a sense of purpose and anticipation as every member of the crew stood ready to face the challenges ahead.
Shaw sat in his ready room, shifting through the newest reports. He just called commander Hansen to come to his ready room, time of arrival unknown.
Seven arrived at the ready room. Looking towards Shaw. "I assume this is about the Gorn? You really think we can trust those lizards Captain?" She asked as she moved to sit in the chair across from him. Knowing they were heading into fragile territory within Gorn space.
"Yes it is" Shaw stood and walked over to the viewing port. "Gorn are to be honest, a Species The Federation should leave alone, Every run in has ended badly."
"I'm no fan of it either Captain, but it seems we must attempt peace in order to gain access to their world. But I would advise we go to yellow alert, shields raised. If we go in unprepared, this could go badly. We don't want that."
“If we head in with shields raised it would be act of bad gesture, and we don’t need that” Shaw replied as he turned to take a seat.
"Perhaps you're right." Seven replied as she took a sip from a drink she got from the replicator. "Still, we should be prepared, but we don't want the Gorn thinking we're there to pick a fight."
Shaw sighed. “We aren’t we are going to,open diplomatic relations with them, and get their dilithium for,our ships”
Seven adjusted in her seat before speaking again. "Let's only hope they will be interested in talking with us. I've read reports on them from Kirk and Pike's run ins with them."
“I’ve read them as well, I am surprised that Picard never ran into them?” Shaw stood and got another cup of coffee.
Captain Eris looked toward her First Officer. "You're right we don't know how they'll respond to our presence and their quite..Sensitive creatures. Shields up, yellow alert! I want phasers on standby, don't want them to think we're about to fire upon them." Her voice had a natural alluring tone, and it carried weight with her position.
"Thank you captain. As we know as your first officer I also, suggest weapons to be on stand by unless they aren't a threat. But however, I have read that the Gorn aren't typically on the nice side. Like you humans would consider saying. If I may add." Commander Selk added to what he wanted to say to the captain and allowed this to be in thought.
Cormac was sitting on the science station with his hand on his cheek. He wore an uneasy expression as he contemplated the turn of events. The order was just given for the ship to go on yellow alert. A nightmare for any ongoing science project. A yellow alert meant energy diverted to shields and away from any non-essential demanding tasks. Like complex research related computer calculations or elaborate testing equipment. He dreaded the headache of having to endure the complaints of every young science officer whose work will get delayed. But that was also part of the job. A larger part than he would have liked.
There had to be a way to spin this somehow. To try and regale the ‘’immense opportunity of learning about the Gorn’’ in this diplomatic mission among the science department. But that would only manage to sway merely the most green of officers. There was no avoiding it, the allure of being in a science vessel is the opportunity for study and research. Not to mention the unparalleled prospect of fieldwork. For those chosen few that enjoy it. Life for a scientist on a ship was very different from a lab or a base. A man of lesser manners than him would call starbase scientists ‘’spoiled’’, but Cormac would never, because that would include him as well.
To avoid dissent he decided to be productive about this mission. He made a mental note to look for any experts or at the very least enthusiasts about Gorn anthropology or even history from among the crew. He wondered if the assistant chief science officer was of the same opinion. A meeting would need to be held as soon as possible. With a few taps on his console he arranged a meeting as the discussion about the mission continued on the bridge.
Moo (pernounced Moe) Had four P.A.D.D's and was switching back and forth between them. Being Chief Tactical, was a surprise, especially considering that not just yesterday, he had been in a knockdown drag-out, with a member of the ship's self-defense force. Humans had such weird sayings, half of them were interstellar in their ability to get the point across, and the other half were mystic, confusing, and never came to a logical conclusion, like arranging one's orthographic waterfowl in a longitudinal formation. He tried it once, it was like herding cats. And there it was, yet another confusing statement, that would never work. you can't herd a cat, you can't tell a cat anything; much less make a cat do anything. He had the ultimate argument if he ever met up with a flat earther... The proof in the pudding; yet another strange saying. This one he understood. " If the earth really were flat, the cats would have pushed everything off already. Any idiot could just look out the viewscreen while orbiting any planet or moon.." Moo didn't realize that he had spoken in his out loud voice until a crewman said "Excuse me, sir?" Moo said," Never mind, I was just musing out out loud!" Moo then said, "Carry on, crewmember!" Moo continued on down the corridor towards the XO's annex, he didn't want to be late meeting the XO.
The Commander was sitting in his office and had noticed that there was someone was right outside the door of his annex. He had the. Went to the door and looked surprised. "Commander please come in. I am Commander Selk. First officer of the Resolute. Pleasure to meet you. How can I help you today commander? Would you like to have something to drink? Anything to eat?" Commander Selk had noticed ridges on the commanders head and realized that the Commander is a Klingon. However, it was always customary for someone that is part of the senior staff to get comfortable and see if they needed something while they were checking in with the XO.
Moo paused before hitting the chime on the XO's door, using the reflection, a quick glance showed nothing out of place on his uniform. Moo hit the chime to indicate to the XO that he had a Visitor. The rapid response, followed by the rapid-fire questions, was something he had not expected. "Thank you, sir. Just checking in, Sir. No sir, yes Sir. Some Regalian tea if you have it, Sir." Moo had to stop and think. Did he answer all of the questions? This was a little unorthodox but fine with him, the sooner the meeting got down to business, the better. Moo said, "About my arrival, and the Trilorian Flee's; I can assure you, I am investigating how they arrived with me as we speak. I will have a report from Medical on all of the bio-signatures of everyone involved...shortly." Moo felt the veins along his dorsal ridges on his head throb, he was glad that his ridges were not as prominent as other Klingons. A discrete medical inquiry discovered, that they had constant Re-occurring migraines. Moo speculated that this was why they were so grouchy and constantly fighting. The adrenalin would release endorphins and block out the migraines.
The Commander looked at Commander Moo. "I can get the Regalian tea." As he walked up to the replicator in his office he then turned to it and said to the replicator. "One Regalian tea." He said. The computer that is the replicator made the Regalian tea. "Commander I have looked at your service record as part of the Klingon defense force you were under command of a few commanding officers. However you have decided to go through Starfleet. I'm impressed with it. However this Trilorian Flee's might I ask what that pertains?" Commander Selk asked.
Moo took a breath, then Said, "At first I thought it was a case of wrong place, wrong time. I am a firm beliver of there are not such things as the accidental spread of something this annoying. I would not wish these on my nemesis, although tactically this is a good distraction. I am currently investigating the source of this plague. The shuttle was quickly decontaminated, ending its ability to infect others, but we don't know how long they were transporting this dangerous cargo. Sensor logs seemed sparse when it came to the shuttle. Almost as if someone or something wanted these things all over half the galaxy before they were detected. The current Pilot of the shuttle; came on shift the day he transported me. He stated that the computer had just been replaced the day before the incident. Normal installation of computer or sensor systems requires thorough and extensive system diagnostics, and then trials before allowing a shuttle to be released for service. There is no engineer on record for Signing from Acceptance by Starfleet Engineering. I had a priority message sent to Starbase 21 security for inquiries. Their initial response was disbelief until they checked their records. They are investigating things from their end. They will copy us on the results. I see a complicated pattern here, but am unable to distinguish what it is.
"Okay well it's a good thing to know. Is there anything else that I must know or anything." Commander Selk hands Moo his tea and sat back down.
Moo said, " I don't like that the day before the ship leaves for a mission, we just happen to find a bug. That does not seem right. On a lighter note, I like my department, the Security team members are well trained, but I will want to run some extreme drills...Do you mind being part of OPPFOR or the oppisition force? Can you be sneaky? I don't think my guys are lax, but stirring things up is good for the Team efficiency rating index."
"Commander might I say doing security drills for you team members will be great. But I highly suggest not anything extreme unless you have talked to them. The part of me joining the OPPFOR or the opposition force. I'm not so sure until we have spoken to the captain. Also as a suggestion I'm sure you guys can use the holodeck for your trainings as well. But again not to extreme until we bring this to the captain. However, I'm not opposed to it at all. I like the idea." Commander Selk had said. However, as first officer he knows that yes it's his decision to say yes or no. But it is the captain who gives the final word he's only there to support and on the side what is best for the crew.
"Yes sir" Moo said," We do use the holodeck for most of the extreme activity. I also want to use the whole ship, few security personnel have their drills held in the bottom of the waste reclamation area on deck 23. I had an idea to
work with different department heads, and with their permission randomly insert a local crewmember into our drill's. We routinely used medical personel as medics, but I feel that the rest of the departments could use some love as well. This will get the ships company more used to the idea that they get to help defend our ship and get rid of the ... it's not my job attitude; you find with most of the crew. Ideally, security would do most of the heavy lifting, and we don't want to make the crew think that they are 3 meters tall and blaster-proof. This is more that, "they get to contribute" in a small way and are used to helping out when needed instead of just making popcorn and watching the in-flight entertainment.
I would like to start small and work from there. I would also like to keep the disruption of the ships routine as small as possible. My argument for this would be; Nothing disrupts the routine of a ship like a raging hand to hand battle, trying to take back several decks from a hostile incursion force. That is also rather hard on the ships crew."
"That I do agree. Like I said we can set up a meeting with the captain and see what he thinks and see what he says. Like I said I'm only the first officer on board so the captain gets the final say. However, like you stated yes everyone could use training however, everyone here that are Starfleet, we've all used hand to hand and phaser training and are well knowledgeable with it." The first officer didn't want to say no to Commander Moo's idea for training for everyone. But maybe Commander Selk is right or wrong. But it would still have to go through the captain as it has to go through chain of command.
Moo says [think were ready to publish this one]
Selk says [yeah I believe so since we already got a new post]
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